


THE GOLDEN SPEARS 



And Other Fairy Tales 



BY 



EDMUND 


LEAMY . 






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K 



ILLUSTRATIONS BY yCOEINNE TUUNER 




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EXLIBRIS- 

AURORA HPMGIRALDA 

FOIST HISTORIAN O^ LJTBRARV CALrPOW 

TITLE CONrgRRCU BV'CALIFORNIA 

LEaiStATHtje, Al>RrL 1919 

SAN FRAN«lsm», CAUPORNIA 



New York 

Desmond FitzGerald, Inc. 



• • • » • • • 

• • • •. • • « 

• • • • • ' 









Copyright, 1911 
By Desmond FitzGerald, Inc. 

All Eights Reserved 



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CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface vii 

Introductory Note ...... x 

The Golden Spears 1 

The House in the Lake ..... 23 

The Enchanted Cave ..... 49 

The Huntsman's Son 16 

The Fairy Tree of Dooros .... 101 

The Little White Cat 123 

Princess Finola and the Dwarf . , .149 

Notes IVO 






ILLUSTRATIONS 

"She beckoned the chihlren to her" . Frontisjnece 

FACING PAGE 

"'I have mourned you as dead, my darling,' 

said he" 39 

"The queen wished to know if he would join 

them" 58 

"Fergus knew it was the Pooka, the wild horse of 

the mountains" 81 

"He was very sad, and tired " . . . .106 

"At the sight of him the prince remembered 

everything" 137 

"Standing before him was the little princess" . 169 



PREFACE 

It comes to me as a very welcome piece of 
news, and yet a piece of news which I have 
been long expecting, that a special American 
edition of Edmund Leamy's Irish fairy tales is 
about to be published. This, then, will be the 
third issue of the little book. I venture to 
predict that it will not be the last ; and I fancy 
the American publisher who has had the judg- 
ment to take the matter up will soon be rewarded 
for his enterprise. For I believe the book to be 
a little classic in its way, and that it will go on 
making for itself a place in the libraries of those 
who understand children, and will hold that 
place permanently. 

This is the verdict of competent literary judges. 
I am spared the necessity of attempting a dis- 
cussion of the grounds- on which so strong an 
opinion of Leamy's fairy tales is based by the fact 
that this is already done in Mr. T. P. Gill's In- 
troductory Note. Mr. Gill, though he was, like 
myself, one of Leamy's intimate friends, is a con- 
scientious critic, and to his analysis not merely 
of the " Tales," but of that attractive personality 

iz 



X PEEFACE 

which Leamy infused into all he said or wrote I 
can safely refer the reader. I think no one of 
taste and judgment who reads these Tales will 
fail to agree with the view which is expressed in 
that Note and which I here, with some confidence, 
venture to reiterate. 

My chief hope with regard to this American 
edition is that when it has made its mark with 
the general public, as it is sure to do, it will be 
taken note of by those who are specially con- 
cerned with education. Leamy, while a public 
man, a patriot steeped in the lore of Ireland's 
past and ever weaving generous visions for her 
future, was before all things else a child-lover. 
That was his own, his peculiar endowment. He 
had an exquisite gift with children and seemed 
always able to speak directly with the higher 
parts of their nature. It is this, I think, which is 
evident in every page of these Tales, and which 
gives the book its unique character. One to 
whose judgment on an educational matter I at- 
tach the greatest value writes to me these words : 
" For refining influence, for power to stimulate 
the sense of beauty, the tenderness, the sentiment 
of nobleness of the child-soul, I can imagine no 
volume more worthy of a place on the book-shelf 
of the people's schools." Having myself often 
witnessed this influence at work, I can em- 
phatically indorse this opinion. I say I hope 



PREFACE xi 

American educators may agree with it, for if they 
do our educators here at home will follow so dis- 
tinguished a lead. 

Of Edmund Leamy, in his personal aspect, I 
have already said something in my preface to the 
Dublin edition. I need only add here that this 
true-hearted Irishman had many friends on the 
American continent, and that to them this little 
flower of his genius will be a vivid and abiding 
souvenir of one of the most lovable of men. 

If this book have the success in America which 
it deserves — and I hope that success may be ex- 
tended to Canada and the Australias — I believe 
a charming and ennobling boon will have been 
conferred upon the child-life of these great com- 
munities ; and it will be a source of gratification 
to those who were the author's friends and col- 
leagues to think that that gift came from one by 
whose side we had the honor to serve in Ireland's 
struggles. 

J. E. Redmond. 

AuGHAVANNAGH, June, 1911. 



( 



I 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

I THINK one may fairly claim some respect from this 
later day for a writer who seventeen years ago, of 
his own motion, with scarce a word of encourage- 
ment save from his wife and a friend or two — per- 
haps only one friend — turned to our Gaelic past and 
strove to give to Irish children something which 
would implant in them a love for the beauty and 
dignity of their country's traditions. 

The modest author would never have claimed for 
these little tales the interest which I think they 
deserve. He wrote them for children, for he loved 
children, and one can detect the presence of the 
child listener at nearly every line. He was not 
thinking of a literary audience; the child at his 
knee was enough. This is why we hear (occa- 
sionally) a certain naive accent which will not, per- 
haps, please the contemporary critic; but (as there 
are many who again find pleasure in early Vic- 
torian furniture) it may please others; I confess it 
pleases me. And the absence of literary self-con- 
sciousness is itself pleasant; indeed, much of the 
charm of these stories is the charm of their un- 
premeditated art. But, though he did not write for 
the critics, Leamy was in spite of himself a man of 
letters. He was so genuinely an artist that he could 
not do the thing ill. Any one of these stories will 
prove his capacity : for instance, about that princess 
on the " bare, brown, lonely moor " who was " as 
sweet and as fresh as an opening rosebud, and her 
voice was as musical as the whisper of a stream in 

xiii 



xiv INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

the woods in the hot days of summer." There is 
not a flaw in it. It is so filled with simple beauty 
and tenderness, and there is so much of the genuine 
word-magic in its language, that one is carried away 
as by the spell of natural oratory. It has, too, that 
intimate sympathy with nature which is another 
racial note in these stories. The enchanted moor, 
with its silence, where no sound is heard — the 
wind which shouted beyond the mountains, "when 
it sped across the moor it lost its voice, and passed 
as silently as the dead "—is affected by the fortune 
of the tale equally with its human and its elfin per- 
sonages. When the knight arrives at last, " wher- 
ever his horse's hoofs struck the ground, grass and 
flowers sprang up, and great trees with leafy 
branches rose on every side. ... As they rode on 
beneath the leafy trees from every tree the birds 
sang out, for the spell of silence over the lonely 
moor was broken for ever." This unpretentious 
story, a child's story, is as engaging as a gem. And 
so, I think, are the most of the others. 

It may not be amiss to add a word about the 
author other than as he appears in this book. 
These stories exhibit only one aspect of his gifts. 
They happen to be one of the things he wrote 
down. Most of the coinage of his mind, and I 
think the best of it, came forth in a form which 
does not permit of its being recalled, the form 
of the spoken and unrecorded word. He was by 
nature an improviser. In the inclusive sense of the 
term, the sense which includes poetry, story-telling, 
description as well as pleading and exhortation, he 
was a born orator; and he was at his best when in 
the glow of pure improvisation. It thus happened 
that it was often a group of friends around a fire- 
side, or a casual audience, who were the witnesses 
of the most brilliant play of his genius. He had 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE xv 

a most observant and seeing eye. A walk in the 
street was fraught with surprise, and he would come 
back delighted with his adventures. Every little 
common incident — three little boys with their backs 
to a wall looking up at a church tower: he would 
catch snatches of their talk, speculations about 
deep things and strange; he w^ould note that an old 
Irish apple-woman in a grimy English tow^n left her 
basket, with all her stock in trade, outside in the 
street while she went into a church to commune 
with her heavenly friends ; the conversation between 
a sapient publican, a friendly constable and a group 
of dubious bona fide travelers — such things were 
materials for his insight or his fancy or his delight- 
ful humor. Often when he returned in the even- 
ing, full of his day's observations, one wished 
there had been a shorthand-writer present to take 
down what fell from his lips. And just as it fell it 
would have been literature. He w^as urged to write 
these things. But Leamy had not readily the will 
or the power to compel his spirit when the favored 
moment had passed. He was mostly passive, like an 
Jilolian harp, under the visitation. Ill-health, too, 
extreme and distressing, burdened him. He bore his 
trials cheerfully, and strove manfully to write, es- 
pecially in his later days when the powder and the 
will seemed to come to him just as illness tightened 
its hold. But he was sustained by the most precious 
of blessings — a wife with a brave and bright soul, 
who appreciated him, and had a heart as romantic 
as his own. Their love, indeed, was an idyll, un- 
touched by a shadow, through illness and pain and 
hardship, to the hour of his death. 

One ventures to wish that this little book may 
make his kindly Irish spirit friends among a wider 
circle, and especially amongst the children. 

T. P. Gill. 



THE GOLDEN SPEARS 

ONCE upon a timg there liYefi-in. a* little 
house under a hill a Htile old 'woman and 
her two children, whose names were 
Connla and Nora. Right in front of the door of 
the little house lay a pleasantmeadow,andbeyond 
the meadow rose up to the skies a mountain whose 
top was sharp-pointed like a spear. For more 
than halfway up it was clad with heather, and 
when the heather was in bloom it looked like a 
purple robe falling from the shoulders of the 
mountain down to its feet. Above the heather it 
was bare and gray, but when the sun was sinking 
in the sea, its last rays rested on the bare moun- 
tain top and made it gleam like a spear of gold, 
and so the children always called it the " Golden 
Spear." 

In summer days they gamboled in the meadow, 
plucking the sweet wild grasses — and often and 
often they clambered up the mountain side, knee 
deep in the heather, searching for frechans and 



2 FAIRY TALES 

wild honey, and sometimes they found a bird's 
nest — but they only peeped into it, they never 
touched the eggs or allowed their breath to fall 
upon them, for next to their little mother they 
loved the' moiintailB, : and next to the moun- 
tain they loved the wild birds who made the 
spiing and summer weather musical with their 
songs. 

Sometimes the soft white mist would steal 
through the glen, and creeping up the mountain 
would cover it with a veil so dense that the chil- 
dren could not see it, and then they would say 
to each other : " Our mountain is gone away from 
us." But when the mist would lift and float off 
into the skies, the children would clap their 
hands, and say : " Oh, there's our mountain back 
again." 

In the long nights of winter they babbled of the 
spring and summertime to come, when the birds 
would once more sing for them, and never a day 
passed that they didn't fling crumbs outside their 
door, and on the borders of the wood that 
stretched away towards the glen. 

When the spring days came they awoke with 
the first light of the morning, and they knew the 



THE GOLDEN SPEARS 3 

very minute wlien the lark would begin to sing, 
and when the thrush and the blackbird would 
pour out their liquid notes, and w^hen the robin 
would make the soft, green, tender leaves trem- 
ulous at his song. 

It chanced one day that when they were resting 
in the noontide heat, under the perfumed shade 
of a hawthorn in bloom, they saw on the edge of 
the meadow, spread out before them, a speckled 
thrush cowering in the grass. 

" Oh, Connla ! Connla ! Look at the thrush — 
and, look, look up in the sky, there is a hawk ! '^ 
cried Nora. 

Connla looked up, and he saw the hawk with 
quivering wings, and he kncAV that in a second it 
would pounce down on the frightened thrush. 
He jumped to his feet, fixed a stone in his sling, 
and before the whir of the stone shooting 
through the air was silent, the stricken hawk 
tumbled headlong in the grass. 

The thrush, shaking its wings, rose joyously in 
the air, and perching upon an elm-tree in sight of 
the children, he sang a song so sweet that they 
left the hawthorn shade and walked along to- 
gether until they stood under the branches of the 



4 FAIRY TALES 

elm; and they listened and listened to the 
thrush's song, and at last Nora said : 

" Oh, Connla ! did you ever hear a song so sweet 
as this? " 

" No," said Connla, " and I do believe sweeter 
music was never heard before." 

" Ah," said the thrush, " that's because you 
never heard the nine little pipers playing. And 
now, Connla and Nora, you saved my life to- 
day." 

" It was Nora saved it," said Connla, " for she 
pointed you out to me, and also pointed out the 
hawk which was about to pounce on you." 

" It was Connla saved you," said Nora, " for he 
slew the hawk with his sling." 

" I owe my life to both of you," said the thrush. 
" You like my song, and you say you have never 
heard anything so sweet; but wait till you hear 
the nine little pipers placing." 

"And when shall we hear them?" said the 
children. 

" Well," said the thrush, " sit outside your 
door to-morrow evening, and wait and watch un- 
til the shadows have crept up the heather, and 
then, when the mountain top is gleaming like a 



THE GOLDEN SPEARS 5 

golden spear, look at the line wliere the shadow 
on the heather meets the sunshine, and you shall 
see what you shall see." 

And having said this, the thrush sang another 
song sweeter than the first, and then saying 
" good-by," he flew away into the woods. 

The children went home, and all night long 
they were dreaming of the thrush and the nine 
little pipers; and when the birds sang in the 
morning, they got up and went out into the 
meadow to watch the mountain. 

The sun Avas shining in a cloudless sky, and no 
shadows lay on the mountain, and all day long 
they watched and waited, and at last, when the 
birds were singing their farewell song to the 
evening star, the children saw the shadows 
marching from the glen, trooping up the moun- 
tain side and dimming the purple of the heather. 

And when the mountain top gleamed like a 
golden spear, they fixed their eyes on the line 
between the shadow and the sunshine. 

" Now," said Connla, " the time has come." 

" Oh, look ! look ! " said Nora, and as she spoke, 
just above the line of shadow a door opened out, 
and through its portals came a little piper 



6 FAIRY TALES 

dressed in green and gold. He stepped down, 
followed by another and another, until they were 
nine in all, and then the door slung back again. 
Down through the heather marched the pipers in 
single file, and all the time they played a music so 
sweet that the birds, who had gone to sleep in 
their nests, came out upon the branches to listen 
to them, and then they crossed the meadow, and 
they went on and on until they disappeared in the 
leafy woods. 

While they were passing the children were 
spellbound, and couldn't speak, but when the 
music had died away in the woods, they said: 

" The thrush is right, that is the sweetest music 
that was ever heard in all the world." 

And when the children went to bed that night 
the fairy music came to them in their dreams. 
But when the morning broke, and they looked out 
upon their mountain and could see no trace of 
the door above the heather, they asked each other 
whether they had really seen the little pipers, or 
only dreamt of them. 

That day they went out into the woods, and 
they sat beside a stream that pattered along be- 
neath the trees, and through the leaves tossing in 



THE GOLDEN SPEAKS 7 

the breeze the sun flashed down upon the stream- 
let, and shadow and sunshine danced upon it. 
As the children watched the water sparkling 
where the sunlight fell, Nora said: 

" Oh, Connla, did you ever see anything so 
bright and clear and glancing as that? " 

" No," said Connla, " I never did." 

" That's because you never saw the crystal hall 
of the fairy of the mountains," said a voice above 
the heads of the children; ^ 

And when they looked up, who should they see 
perched on a branch but the thrush. 

" And where is the crystal hall of the fairy? " 
said Connla. 

" Oh, it is where it always was, and where it 
always will be," said the thrush. " And you can 
see it if you like." 

" We would like to see it," said the children. 

" Well, then," said the thrush, " if you would, 
all you have to do is to follow the nine 
little pipers w^hen they come down through 
the heather, and cross the meadow to-morrow 
evening." 

And the thrush having said this, flew away. 

Connla and Nora went home, and that night 



8 FAIRY TALES 

they fell asleep talking of tlie thrush and the 
fairy and the crystal hall. 

All the next day they counted the minutes, un- 
til they saw the shadows thronging from the glen 
and scaling the mountain side. And, at last, 
they saw the door springing open, and the nine 
little pipers marching down. 

They waited until the pipers had crossed the 
meadow and were about to enter the wood. And 
then they followed them, the pipers marching on 
before them and playing all the time. It was not 
long until they had passed through the wood, and 
then, what should the children see rising up be- 
fore them but another mountain, smaller than 
their own, but, like their own, clad more than 
half way up with purple heather, and whose top 
was bare and sharp-pointed, and gleaming like a 
golden spear. 

Up through the heather climbed the pipers, up 
through the heather the children clambered after 
them, and the moment the pipers passed the 
heather a door opened and they marched in, the 
children following, and the door closed behind 
them. 

Connla and Nora were so dazzled by the light 



THE GOLDEN SPEARS 9 

that liit their eyes, when they had crossed the 
threshold, that they had to shade them with their 
hands; but, after a moment or two, they became 
able to bear the splendor, and when they looked 
around they saw that they were in a noble hall, 
whose crystal roof was supported by two rows of 
crystal pillars rising from a crystal floor ; and the 
walls were of crystal, and along the walls were 
crystal couches, with coverings and cushions of 
sapphire silk with silver tassels. 

Over the crystal floor the little pipers marched ; 
over the crystal floor the children followed, and 
when a door at the end of the hall was opened to 
let the pipers pass, a crowd of colors came rush- 
ing in, and floor, and ceiling, and stately pillars, 
and glancing couches, and shining walls, were 
stained with a thousand dazzling hues. 

Out through the door the pipers marched ; out 
through the door the children followed, and when 
they crossed the threshold they were treading on 
clouds of amber, of purple, and of gold. 

" Oh, Connla," said Nora, " we have walked 
into the sunset! " 

And around and about them everywhere were 
soft, fleecy clouds, and over their heads was the 



10 FAIRY TALES 

glowing sky, and the stars were shining through 
it, as a lady's eyes shine through a veil of gossa- 
mer. And the sky and stars seemed so near that 
Connla thought he could almost touch them with 
his hand. 

When they had gone some distance, the pipers 
disappeared, and when Connla and Nora came up 
to the spot where they had seen the last of them, 
they found themselves at the head of a ladder, all 
the steps of which were formed of purple and 
amber clouds that descended to what appeared 
to be a vast and shining plain, streaked with pur- 
ple and gold. In the spaces between the streaks 
of gold and purple they saw soft, milk-white 
stars. And the children thought that the great 
plain, so far below them, also belonged to cloud- 
land. 

They could not see the little pipers, but up the 
steps was borne by the cool, sweet air the fairy 
music ; and lured on by it step by step they trav- 
eled down the fleecy stairway. When they were 
little more than halfway down there came 
mingled with the music a sound almost as sweet 
— the sound of waters toying in the still air with 
pebbles on a shelving beach, and with the sound 



THE GOLDEN SPEARS 11 

came the odorous brine of the ocean. And then 
the children knew that what they thought was a 
plain in the realms of cloudlaud was the sleep- 
ing sea unstirred by wind or tide, dreaming 
of the purple clouds and stars of the sunset 
sky above it. 

When Connla and Nora reached the strand 
they saw the nine little pipers marching out 
towards the sea, and they wondered where they 
were going to. And they could hardly believe 
their eyes when they saw them stepping out upon 
the level ocean as if they were walking upon the 
land; and away the nine little pipers marched, 
treading the golden line cast upon the waters by 
the setting sun. And as the music became 
fainter and fainter as the pipers passed into the 
glowing distance, the children began to wonder 
what was to become of themselves. Just at that 
very moment they saw coming towards them 
from the sinking sun a little white horse, with 
flowing mane and tail and golden hoofs. On the 
horse's back was a little man dressed in shining 
green silk. When the horse galloped on to the 
strand the little man doffed his hat, and said to 
the children : 



12 FAIRY TALES 

" Would you like to follow the nine little 
pipers? " The children said, " yes." 

" Well, then,-' said the little man, " come up 
here behind me; you, Nora, first, and Connla 
after." 

Connla helped up Nora, and then climbed on to 
the little steed himself ; and as soon as they were 
properly seated the little man said " swish," and 
away went the steed, galloping over the sea with- 
out wetting hair or hoof. But fast as he gal- 
loped the nine little pipers were always ahead 
of him, although they seemed to be going only 
at a walking pace. When at last he came up 
rather close to the hindmost of them the nine 
little pipers disappeared, but the children heard 
the music playing beneath the waters. The 
white steed pulled up suddenly, and wouldn't 
move a step further. 

" Now," said the little man to the children, 
" clasp me tight, Nora, and do you, Connla, 
cling on to Nora, and both of you shut your 
eyes." 

The children did as they were bidden, and the 
little man cried : 

" Swish ! swash ! " 



THE GOLDEN SPEAKS 13 

And the steed went down and down until at 
last his feet struck the bottom. 

" Now open your eyes/' said the little man. 

And when the children did so they saw beneath 
the horse's feet a golden strand, and above their 
heads the sea like a transparent cloud between 
them and the sky. And once more they heard the 
fairy music, and marching on the strand before 
them were the nine little pipers. 

" You must get off now," said the little man, 
" I can go no farther with you." 

The children scrambled down, and the little 
man cried " swish," and himself and the steed 
shot up through the sea, and they saw him no 
more. Then they set out after the nine little 
pipers, and it wasn't long until they saw rising 
up from the golden strand and pushing their 
heads up into the sea above, a mass of dark gray 
rocks. And as they were gazing at them they 
saw the rocks opening, and the nine little pipers 
disappearing through them. 

The children hurried on, and when they came 
up close to the rocks they saw sitting on a flat 
and polished stone a mermaid combing her golden 
hair, and sinoino- a strange sweet song that 



14 FAIRY TALES 

brought the tears to their eyes, and by the mer- 
maid's side was a little sleek brown otter. 

When the mermaid saw them she flung her 
golden tresses back over her snow-white shoul- 
ders, and she beckoned the children to her. Her 
large eyes were full of sadness; but there was a 
look so tender upon her face that the children 
moved towards her without any fear. 

" Come to me, little one," she said to Nora, 
" come and kiss me," and in a second her arms 
were around the child. The mermaid kissed her 
again and again ; as the tears rushed to her eyes, 
she said : 

" Oh, Nora, mavourneen, your breath is as 
sweet as the wild rose that blooms in the green 
fields of Erin, and happy are you, my children, 
who have come so lately from the pleasant land. 
Oh, Connla ! Connla ! I get the scent of the dew of 
the Irish grasses and of the purple heather from 
your feet. And you both can soon return to Erin 
of the Streams, but I shall not see it till three 
hundred years have passed away, for I am Liban 
the Mermaid, daughter of a line of kings. But I 
may not keep you here. The Fairy Queen is 
waiting for you in her snow-white palace and her 



THE GOLDEN SPEARS 15 

fragrant bowers. And now kiss me once more, 
Nora, and kiss me, Connla. May luck and joy go 
with you, and all gentleness be upon you both.'' ^ 

Then the children said good-by to the mer- 
maid, and the rocks opened for them and they 
passed through, and soon they found themselves 
in a meadow starred with flowers, and through 
the meadow sped a sunlit stream. They followed 
the stream until it led them into a garden of 
roses, and beyond the garden, standing on a gen- 
tle hill, was a palace white as snow. Before the 
palace was a crowd of fairy maidens pelting each 
other with rose-leaves. But when they saw the 
children they gave over their play, and came 
trooping towards them. 

" Our queen is waiting for you," they said ; and 
then they led the children to the palace door. 
The children entered, and after passing through 
a long corridor they found themselves in a crystal 
hall so like the one they had seen in the mountain 
of the golden spear that they thought it was the 
same. But on all the crystal couches fairies, 
dressed in silken robes of many colors, were sit- 
ting, and at the end of the hall, on a crystal 
throne, was seated the fairy queen, looking love- 




/ t^* n < <^ "^ 



16 FAIRY TALES 



lier than the evening star. The queen descended 
from her throne to meet the children, and taking 
them by the hands, she led them up the shining 
steps. Then, sitting down, she made them sit be- 
side her, Connla on her right hand and Nora on 
her left. 

Then she ordered the nine little pipers to come 
before her, and she said to them : 

" So far you have done your duty faithfully, 
and now play one more sweet air and your task is 
done." 

And the little pipers played, and from the 
couches at the first sound of the music all the 
fairies rose, and forming partners, they danced 
over the crystal floor as lightly as the young 
leaves dancing in the wind. 

Listening to the fairy music, and watching the 
wavy motion of the dancing fairies, the children 
fell asleep. AVhen they awoke next morning and 
rose from their silken beds they were no longer 
children. Nora was a graceful and stately 
maiden, and Connla a handsome and gallant 
youth. They looked at each other for a moment 
in surprise, and then Connla said: 

" Oh, Nora, how tall and beautiful you are! " 



THE GOLDEN SPEARS 17 

" Oh, not so tall and handsome as you are, 
Connla," said Nora, as she flung her white arms 
round his neck and kissed her brother's lips. 

Then they drew back to get a better look of 
each other, and who should step between them 
but the fairy queen. 

" Oh, Nora, Nora," said she, " I am not as high 
as your knee, and as for you, Connla, you look as 
straight and as tall as one of the round towers of 
Erin." 

" And how did we grow so tall in one night? " 
said Connla. 

" In one night! " said the fairy queen. " One 
i night, indeed ! Why, you have been fast asleep, 
the two of you, for the last seven years ! " 

"And where was the little mother all that 
time? " said Connla and Nora together. 

" Oh, the little mother was all right. She knew 
where you were; but she is expecting you to- 
day, and so you must go off to see her, although 
I would like to keep you — if I had my way — all 
to myself here in the fairyland under the sea. 
And you will see her to-day; but before you go 
here is a necklace for you, Nora; it is formed out 
of the drops of the ocean spray, sparkling in the 



18 FAIRY TALES 

sunshine. They were caught by my fairy nymphs, 
for you, as they skimmed the sunlit billows under 
the shape of sea-birds, and no queen or princess 
in the world can match their luster with the dia- 
monds won with toil from the caves of earth. As 
for you, Connla, see here's a helmet of shining 
gold fit for a king of Eriui — and a king of Erin 
you will be yet; and here's a spear that will pierce 
any shield, and here's a shield that no spear can 
pierce and no sword can cleave as long as you 
fasten your warrior cloak with this brooch of 
gold." 

And as she spoke she flung round Connla's 
shoulders a flowing mantle of yellow silk, and 
pinned it at his neck with a red gold brooch. 

" And now, my children, you must go away 
from me. You, Nora, will be a warrior's bride in 
Erin of the Streams. And you, Connla, will be 
king yet over the loveliest province in all the land 
of Erin; but you will have to fight for your 
crown, and days of battle are before you. They 
will not come for a long time after you have left 
the fairyland under the sea, and until they come 
lay aside your helmet, shield, and spear, and war- 
rior's cloak and golden brooch. But when the 



THE GOLDEN SPEARS 19 

time comes when you will be called to battle, en- 
ter not upon it without the golden brooch I give 
you fastened in your cloak, for if you do harm 
will come to you. Now, kiss me, children ; your 
little mother is waiting for you at the foot of the 
golden spear, but do not forget to say good-by 
to Liban the Mermaid, exiled from the land she 
loves, and pining in sadness beneath the sea." 

Connla and Nora kissed the fairy queen, and 
Connla, wearing his golden helmet and silken 
cloak, and carrying his shield and spear, led Nora 
with him. They passed from the palace through 
the garden of roses, through the flowery meadow, 
through the dark gray rocks, until they reached 
the golden strand ; and there, sitting and singing 
the strange, sweet song, was Liban the Mermaid. 

" And so you are going up to Erin," she said, 
" up through the covering waters. Kiss me, chil- 
dren, once again; and when you are in Erin of 
the Streams, sometimes think of the exile from 
Erin beneath the sea." 

And the children kissed the mermaid, and with 
sad hearts, bidding her good-by, they walked 
along the golden strand. When they had gone 
what seemed to them a long way, they began to 



20 FAIRY TALES 

feel weary; and just then they saw coming 
towards them a little man in a red jacket leading 
a coal-black steed. 

When they met the little man, he said: 
" Connla, put Nora up on this steed; then jump 
up before her." 

Connla did as he was told, and when both of 
them were mounted — 

" Now, Connla," said the little man, " catch 
the bridle in your hands, and you, Nora, 
clasp Connla round the waist, and close your 
eyes." 

They did as they were bidden, and then the 
little man said, " Swash, swish ! " and the steed 
shot up from the strand like a lark from the 
grass, and pierced the covering sea, and went 
bounding on over the level waters ; and when his 
hoofs struck the hard ground, Connla and Nora 
opened their eyes, and they saw that they were 
galloping towards a shady wood. 

,0n went the steed, and soon he was galloping 
beneath the branches that almost touched Conn- 
la's head. And on they went until they had 
passed through the wood, and then they saw 
rising up before them the " Golden Spear." 



THE GOLDEN SPEARS 21 

" Oh, Connla," said Nora, " we are at home at 
last." 

" Yes," said Connla, " but where is the little 
house under the hill?" 

And no little house was there ; but in its stead 
was standing a lime-white mansion. 

" What can this mean? " said Nora, 

But before Connla could reply, the steed had 
galloped up to the door of the mansion, and, in 
the twinkling of an eye, Connla and Nora were 
standing on the ground outside the door, and the 
steed had vanished. 

Before they could recover from their surprise 
the little mother came rushing out to them, and 
flung her arms around their necks, and kissed 
them both again and again. 

" Oh, children ! children ! You are welcome 
home to me; for though I knew it was all 
for the best, my heart was lonely without 
you." 

And Connla and Nora caught up the little 
mother in their arms, and they carried her into 
the hall and set her down on the floor. 

" Oh, Nora ! " said the little mother, " you are 
a head over me ; and as for you, Connla, you look 



22 FAIRY TALES 

almost as tall as one of the round towers of 
Erin." 

" That's what the fairy queen said, mother," 
said Nora. 

" Blessings on the fairy queen," said the little 
mother. " Turn round, Connla, till I look at you." 

Connla turned round, and the little mother 
said: 

" Oh, Connla, with your golden helmet and 
your spear, and your glancing shield, and your 
silken cloak, you look like a king. But take them 
off, my boy, beautiful as they are. Your little 
mother would like to see you, her own brave boy, 
without any fairy finery." 

And Connla laid aside his spear and shield, and 
took off his golden helmet and his silken cloak. 
Then he caught the little mother and kissed her, 
and lifted her up until she was as high as his 
head. And said he: 

" Don't you know, little mother, I'd rather 
have you than all the world." 

And that night, when they were sitting down 
by the fire together, you may be sure that in the 
whole world no people were half as happy as 
Nora, Connla, and the little mother. 



J- 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE ^ 

ALONG, long time ago there lived in a little 
hut, in the midst of one of the inland lakes 
of Erin, an old fisherman and his son. The 
hut was built on stakes driven into the bed of the 
lake, and was so high above the waters that even 
when they were stirred into waves by the wind 
coming down from the mountains they did not 
reach the threshold of the door. Around, out- 
side the hut, on a level with the floor, was a little 
wicker-work platform, and under the platform, 
close to the steps leading up to it from the water, 
the fisherman's curragh, made of willows, cov- 
ered with skins, was moored, and it was only by 
means of the curragh that he and his son, Enda, 
could leave their lake dwelling. 

On many a summer evening Enda lay stretched 
on the platform, watching the sunset fading from 
the mountain-tops, and the twilight creeping over 
the waters of the lake, and it chanced that once 
when he was so engaged he heard a rustle in a 

23 



24 FAIRY TALES 

clump of sedge that grew close to one side of the 
hut. He turned to where the sound came from, 
and what should he see but an otter swimming 
towards him, with a little trout in his mouth. 
When the otter came up to where Enda was lying, 
he lifted his head and half his body from the 
water, and flung the trout on the platform, al- 
most at Enda's feet, and then disappeared. 

Enda took the little panting trout in his hand ; 
but as he did so he heard, quite close to him, in 
the lake, a sound like that of water plashing upon 
water, and he saw the widening circles caused by 
a trout which had just risen to a fly; and he said 
to the little trout he held in his hand : 

" I won't keep you, poor thing! Perhaps that 
was a little comrade come to look for j^ou, and so 
I'll send you back to him." 

And saying this, he dropped the little trout 
into the lake. 

Well, when the next evening came, again Enda 
was lying stretched outside the hut, and once 
more he heard the rustle in the sedge, and once 
more the otter came and flung the little trout 
almost into his hands. 

Enda, more surprised than ever, did not know 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE 25 

what to do. He saw that it was the same little 
trout the otter had brought him the night before, 
and he said : 

" Well, I gave you a chance last night. I'll 
give you another, if only to see what will come 
of it." 

And he dropped the trout into the lake ; but no 
sooner had it touched the waters than it was 
changed into a beautiful, milk-white swan. And 
Enda could hardly believe his eyes, as he saw 
it sailing across the lake, uutil it was lost in the 
rTS^dges growing by the shore. 

All that night he lay awake, thinking of what 
he had seen, and as soon as the morning stood 
on the hill-tops, and cast its shafts of golden light 
across the lake, Enda rose and got into his cur- 
ragh. 

He rowed all round the shores, beating the 
sedges with his oar, in pursuit of the swan ; but 
all in vain ; he could not catch a glimpse of her 
white plumage anywhere. Day after day he 
rowed about the lake in search of her, and every 
evening he lay outside the hut watching the 
waters. At long last, one night, when the full 
moon, rising above the mountains, flooded the 



26 FAIRY TALES 

whole lake with light, he saw the swan coming 
swiftly towards him, shining brighter than the 
moonbeams. The swan came on until it was al- 
most within a boat's length of the hut ; and what 
should Enda hear but the swan speaking to him 
in his own lang-uage : 

" Get into your curragh, Enda, and follow me," 
said she, and, saying this, she turned round and 
sailed away. 

Enda jumped into the curragh, and soon the 
water, dripping from his oar, was flashing like 
diamonds in the moonlight. And he rowed after 
the swan, who glided on before him, until she 
came to where the shadows of the mountains lay 
deepest on the lake. Then the swan rested, and 
when Enda came up to her : 

" Enda," said she, " I have brought you where 
none may hear what I wish to say to you. I am 
Mave, the daughter of the king of Erin. By the 
magic arts of my cruel stepmother I was changed 
into a trout, and cast into this lake a year and a 
day before the evening when you restored me to 
the waters the second time. If you had not done 
so the first night the otter brought me to you I 
should have been changed into a hooting owl ; if 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE 27 

you had not done so the second night, I should 
have been changed into a croaking raven. But, 
thanks to you, Enda, I am now a snow-white 
swan, and for one hour on the first night of every 
full moon the power of speech is and will be given 
to me as long as I remain a swan. And a swan I 
must always remain, unless you are willing to 
break the spell of enchantment that is over me; 
and you alone can break it." 

" I'll do anything I can for you, O princess ! " 
said Enda. " But how can I break the spell? " 

" You can do so," said the swan, " only by pour- 
ing upon my plumage the perfumed water that 
fills the golden bowl that is in the inmost room 
of the palace of the fairy queen, beneath the 
lake." 

" And how can I get that? " said Enda. 

" Well," said the swan, " you must dive be- 
neath the lake, and walk along its bed, until you 
come to where the lake dragon guards the en- 
trance of the fairy queen's dominions." 

" I can dive like a fish," said Enda; " but how 
can I walk beneath the waters? " 

" You can do it easily enough," said the swan, 
" if you get the water-dress of Brian, one of the 



28 FAIRY TALES 

three sons of Turenn, and his helmet of trans- 
parent crystal, by the aid of which he was able to 
walk under the green salt sea." ^ 

" And where shall I find them? " 

" They are in the water-palace of Angus of the 
Boyne," said the swan; " but you should set out 
at once, for if the spell be not broken before the 
moon is full again, it cannot be broken for a year 
and a day." 

" I'll set out in the first ray of the morning," 
said Enda. 

" May luck and joy go with you," said the 
swan. " And now the hours of silence are com- 
ing upon me, and I have only time to warn you 
that dangers you little dream of will lie before 
you in your quest for the golden cup." 
' " I am willing to face all dangers for your sake, 
O princess," said Enda. 

" Blessings be upon you, Enda," said the swan, 
and she sailed away from the shadow out into the 
light across the lake to the sedgy banks. And 
Enda saw her no more. 

He rowed his curragh home, and he lay on his 
bed without taking off his clothes. And as the 
first faint glimmer of the morning came slanting 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE 29 

down the mountains, he stepped into his cnrragh 
and pulled across the lake, and took the road 
towards the water-palace of Angus of the 
Boyne. 

When he reached the banks of the glancing 
river a little woman, dressed in red, was standing 
there before him. 

" You are welcome, Enda," said she. " And 
glad am I to see the day that brings you here to 
help the winsome Princess Mave. And now wait 
a second, and the water-dress and crystal helmet 
will be ready for you." 

And, having said this, the little woman plucked 
a handful of wild grasses, and she breathed upon 
i them three times and then flung them on the 
river, and a dozen fairy nymphs came springing 
up through the water, bearing the water-dress 
I and crj^stal helmet and a shining spear. And 
they laid them down upon the bank at Enda's 
feet, and then disappeared. 

" Now, Enda," said the fairy woman, " take 
these ; by the aid of the dress and the helmet you 
can walk beneath the waters. You will need the 
spear to enable you to meet the dangers that lie 
before you. But with that spear, if you only 



30 FAIRY TALES 

have courage, you can overcome everything and 
everyone that may attempt to bar your way." 

Having said this, she bid good-by to Enda, and 
stepping off the bank, she floated out upon the 
river as lightly as a red poppy leaf. And when 
she came to the middle of the stream she disap- 
peared beneath the waters. 

Enda took the helmet, dress, and spear, and it 
was not long until he came to the sedgy banks 
where his little boat was waiting for him. As he 
stepped into the curragh the moon was rising 
above the mountains. lie rowed on until he 
came to the hut, and having moored the boat to 
the door, he put on the water-dress and the crys- 
tal helmet, and taking the spear in his hand, he 
leaped over the side of the curragh, and sank down 
and down until he touched the bottom. Then he 
walked along without minding where he was go- 
ing, and the only light he had was the shimmer- 
ing moonlight, which descended as faintly 
through the waters as if it came through muffled 
glass. He had not gone very far wlien he heard 
a horrible hissing, and straight before him he 
saw what he thought were two flaming coals. 
After a few more steps he found himself face to 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE 31 

face with the dragon of the lake, the guardian 
of the palace of the fairy queen. Before he had 
time to raise his spear, the dragon had wound 
its coils around him, and he heard its horrible 
teeth crunching against the side of his crystal 
helmet, and he felt the pressure of its coils 
around his side, and the breath almost left his 
body; but the dragon, unable to pierce the 
helmet, unwound his coils, and soon Enda's 
hands were free, and before the dragon could 
attempt to seize him again, he drove his spoar 
through one of its fiery eyes, and, writhing with 
pain, the hissing dragon darted through a cave 
behind him. Enda, gaining courage from the 
dragon's flight, marched on until he came to a 
door of dull brass set in the rocks. He tried to 
push it in before him, but he might as well have 
tried to push away the rocks. While he was 
wondering what he should do, he heard again the 
fierce hissing of the dragon, and saw the red glare 
of his fiery eye dimly in the water. 

Lifting his spear and hastily turning round to 
meet the furious monster, Enda accidentally 
touched the door with the point of the spear, and 
the door flew open. Enda passed through, and 



32 FAIRY TALES 

the door closet! behind him with a grating sound, 
and he marched along through a rocky pass 
which led to a sandy plain. 

As he stepped from the pass into the plain the 
sands began to move, as if they were alive. In a 
second a thousand hideous serpents, almost the 
color of the sand, rose hissing up, and with their 
forked tongues made a horrible, poisonous hedge 
in front of him. For a second he stood dismayed, 
but then, leveling his spear, he rushed against 
the hedge of serpents, and they, shooting poison 
at him, sank beneath the sand. But the poison 
did not harm him, because of his water-dress and 
crystal helmet. 

When he had passed over the sandy plain, he 
had to climb a great steep, jagged rock. When he 
got to the top of the rock he saw spread out be- 
fore him a stony waste without a tuft or blade of 
grass. At some dist^ince in front of him he no- 
ticed a large dark object, which he took to be a 
rock, but on looking at it more closely he saw that 
it was a huge, misshapen, swollen mass, appar- 
ently alive. And it was growing bigger and big- 
ger every moment. Enda stood amazed at the 
sight, and before he knew where he was the loath- 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE 35 

they had left it behind them Enda saw on a green 
hill before him the snow-white palace of the 
fairy queen. 

As the queen approached the steps that led up 
to the open door, a band of tiny fairies, dressed in 
rose-colored silk, came out, carrying baskets of 
flowers, which they flung down on the steps to 
make a fragrant carpet for her. They were fol- 
lowed by a band of harpers dressed in yellow 
silken robes, who ranged themselves on each side 
of the steps and played their sweetest music as 
the queen ascended. 

When the queen, followed by Enda, entered the 
palace, they passed through a crystal hall that led 
to a banquet-room. The room was lighted 
by a single star, large as a battle-shield. It 
was fixed against the wall above a diamond 
throne. 

The queen seated herself upon the throne, and 
the pages, advancing towards her, and bending 
low, as they approached the steps, handed her a 
golden wand. 

The queen waved the wand three times, and a 
table laden with all kinds of delicacies appeared 
upon the floor. Then she beckoned Enda to her, 



3G FAIRY TALES 

and when he stood beside her the fairy table was 
no higher than his knee. 

" I am afraid I must make you smaller, Enda," 
said the queen, " or you will never be able to seat 
yourself at my fairy table." 

And having said this, she touched Enda with 
the golden wand, and at once he became as small 
as her tallest page. Then she struck the steps 
of her throne, and all the nobles of her court, 
headed by her bards, took their places at the 
festive board. 

The feast went on right merrily, and when the 
tiny jeweled drinking-cups were placed upon 
the table, the queen ordered the harpers to play. 

And the little harpers struck the chords, and 
as Enda listened to the music it seemed to him 
as if he was being slowly lifted from his seat, 
and when the music ended the fairies vanished, 
the shining star went out, and Enda was in per- 
fect darkness. 

The air blew keenly in his face, and he knew 
not where he was. At last he saw a faint gray 
light, and soon this light grew broader and 
brighter, and as the shadows fled before it, he 
could hardly believe his eyes when he found him- 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE 37 

self in his curragli on the lake, and the moonlight 
streaming clown from the mountain-tops. 

For a moment he thought he must have been 
dreaming ; but there in the boat before him were 
the crystal helmet, and the water-dress, and the 
gleaming spear, and the golden bowl of perfumed 
water that was to remove the spell of enchant- 
ment from the Vv^hite swan of the lake, and sailing 
towards him from the sedgy bank came the snow- 
white swan; and when she touched the boat, 
Enda put out his hands and lifted her in, and 
then over her plumage he poured the perfumed 
water from the golden bowl, and the Princess 
Mave in all her maiden beauty stood before him. 

" Take your oar, Enda," she said, " and row 
to the southern bank." 

Enda seized his oar, and the curragh sped 
across the waters swifter than a swallow in its 
flight. When the boat touched the shore Enda 
jumped out, and lifted the princess on to the 
bank. 

" Send your boat adrift, Enda," she said ; " but 
first take out your shining spear ; the water-dress 
and the crystal helmet will take care of them- 
selves." 



38 FAIRY TALES 

Encla took out the spear, and then pushed the 
boat from the bank. It sped on towards the hut 
in the middle of the lake; but before it had 
reached halfway six nymphs sprang up from the 
water and seizing the helmet and dress, sank 
with them beneath the tide, and the boat went on 
until it pushed its prow against the steps of the 
little hut, where it remained. 

Then Enda and the princess turned towards 
the south, and it was not long until they came 
to a deep forest, that was folding up its shadows 
and spreading out its mossy glades before the 
glancing footsteps of the morning. They had 
not gone far through the forest when they heard 
the music of hounds and the cries of huntsmen, 
and crashing towards them through the low 
branches they saw a fierce wild boar. Enda, 
gently pushing the princess behind him, leveled 
his spear, and when the boar came close to him 
he drove it into his throat. The brute fell dead 
at his feet, and the dogs rushing up began to 
tear it to pieces. The princess fainted at the 
sight, and while Enda was endeavoring to restore 
her, the king of Erin, followed by his huntsmen, 
appeared, and when the king saw the princess he 




I have mourned you as dead, my darling,' 
said he" Page 39 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE 39 

started in amazement, as he recognized the 
features of his daughter Mave. 

At that moment the princess came to herself, 
and her father, lifting her tenderly in his arms, 
kissed her again and again. 

" I have mourned you as dead, my darling," 
said he, " and now you are restored to me more 
lovely than ever. I would gladly have given up 
my throne for this. But say who is the cham- 
pion who has brought you hither, and who has 
slain the wild boar we have hunted so many 
years in vain? " 

The princess blushed like a rose as she 
said: 

" His name is Enda, father ; it is he has 
brought me back to you." 

Then the king embraced Enda and said : 

" Forgive me, Enda, for asking any questions 
about you before you have shared the hospitality 
of my court. My palace lies beyond the forest, 
and we shall reach it soon." 

Then the king ordered his huntsman to sound 
the bugle-horn, and all his nobles galloped up in 
answer to it, and when they saw the Princess 
Mave they were so dazzled by her beauty that 



40 FAIRY TALES 

they scarcely gave a thouglit to the death of the 
wild boar. 

" It is my daughter, Mave, come back to me," 
said the king. 

And all the nobles lowered their lances, and 
bowed in homage to the lady. 

"And there stands the champion who has 
brought her home," said the king, pointing to 
Enda. 

The nobles looked at Enda, and bowed cour- 
teously, but in their hearts they were jealous of 
the champion, for they saw he was already a 
favorite of the king's. 

Then the pages came up, leading milk-white 
steeds with golden bridles, and the king, ordering 
Enda to mount one of them, lifted Mave on to his 
own, and mounted behind her. The pages, car- 
rying the boar's head on a hollow shield, pre- 
ceded by the huntsmen sounding their horns, set 
out towards the palace, and the royal party fol- 
lowed them. 

As the procession approached the palace 
crowds came rushing out to see the trophies of 
the chase, and through the snow-white door the 
queen, Mave's cruel stepmother, attended by her 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE 41 

maids-of-honor and the royal bards, came forth 
to greet the king. But when she saw seated be- 
fore him the Princess Mave, who she thought 
was at the bottom of the lake under a spell of 
enchantment, she uttered a loud cry, and fell 
senseless to the ground. 

The king jumped from his horse, and rushing 
to the queen, lifted her up and carried her in his 
arms to her apartments, for he had no sus- 
picion of the wickedness of which she had been 
guilty. 

And the court leeches were summoned to at- 
tend her, but she died that very night, and it 
was not until a green mound, worthy of a queen 
of Erin, had been raised over her grave that the 
Princess Mave told her father of the wickedness 
of her stepmother. And when she told him the 
whole story of how Enda had broken the spell 
of enchantment, and of the dangers which he 
had faced for her sake, the king summoned an 
assembly of all his nobles, and seated on his 
throne, wearing his golden helmet, the bards 
upon his right hand and the Druids upon his left, 
and the nobles in ranks before him with gleam- 
ing helmets and flashing spears, he told them 



42 FAIRY TALES 

the story of the princess, and of the service which 
Enda had rendered to her. 

" And now," said the king, " if the princess is 
willing to take her deliverer for her husband, I 
am willing that she shall be his bride; and if you, 
my subjects, bards and Druids and nobles and 
chiefs of Erin, have anything to say against this 
union, speak. But first, Mave," said the king, as 
he drew^ the blushing princess to him, " speak, . 
darling, as becomes the daughter of a king — 
speak in the presence of the nobles of Erin, and 
say if it is your wish to become Enda's 
bride." 

The princess flung her white arms around her 
father's neck, as she murmured: 

" Father, it was Enda brought me back to you, 
and before all the princes and nobles of Erin I 
am willing to be his bride." 

And she buried her head upon the king's 
breast, and as he stroked her silken hair falling 
to her feet, the bards struck their golden harps, 
but the sound of the joyous music could hardly 
drown the murmurs of the jealous nobles. 

When the music ceased the king beckoned 
Enda to him, and was about to place his hand 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE 43 

in Mave's when a Druid, whose white beard al- 
most touched the ground, and who had been a 
favorite of the dead stepmother, and hated Mave 
for her sake, stepped forward and said : 

" O king of Erin, never yet has the daughter 
of a king been freely given in marriage to any 
save a battle champion ; and that stripling there 
has never struck his spear against a warrior's 
shield." ' 

A murmur of approbation rose from the jeal- 
ous princes, and Congal, the bravest of them all, 
stepped out from the ranks, and said: 

" The Druid speaks the truth, O king ! That 
stripling has never faced a battle champion yet, 
and, speaking for all the nobles of your land, I 
challenge him to fight any one of us ; and as he 
is young and unused to arms, we are willing that 
the youngest and least experienced amongst us 
should be set against him." 

When Congal had spoken, the nobles, in ap- 
proval of his words, struck their shields with 
their swords, and the brazen sound ascended to 
the skies. 

The face of the princess, blushing a moment 
before like a rose, became as white as a lily ; but 



44 FAIEY TALES 

the color returned to her cheeks when she heard 
Enda's voice ringing loud and clear. 

" It is true, O king ! " said he, " that I have 
never used my spear in battle yet. The Prince 
Congal has challenged me to meet the youngest 
and least experienced of the chiefs of Erin. I 
have risked my life already for your daughter's 
sake. I would face death a thousand times for 
the chance of winning her for my bride; but I 
would scorn to claim her hand if I dared not 
meet the boldest battle champion of the nobles of 
Erin, and here before you, O king, and bards, 
Druids, and nobles, and chiefs of Erin, and 
here, in the presence of the Lady Mave, I chal- 
lenge the boldest of them all." 

The king's eyes flashed with joy as he listened 
to the brave words of Enda. 

" It is well," said the king ; " the contest shall 
take place to-morrow on the lawn outside our 
palace gates ; but before our assembly dissolves I 
call on you, nobles and chiefs of Erin, to name 
your boldest champion." 

Loud cries of " Congal ! Congal ! " answered 
the king's speech. 

"Are you willing, Congal?" asked the king. 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE 45 

" Willing, O king! " answered Congal. 

" It is well," said the king. " We shall all 
meet again to-night in our banquet-hall." 

And the king, with the Princess Mave on his 
arm, attended by his bards and Druids, entered 
the palace, and the chiefs and nobles went their 
several ways. 

At the feast that night the princess sat beside 
the king, and Enda beside the princess, and the 
bards and Druids, nobles and chiefs, took their 
places in due order. And the bards sang songs 
of love and battle, and never merrier hours were 
spent than those which passed away that night 
in the banquet-hall of Erin's king. 

When the feast was over Enda retired to his 
apartment to spend the night dreaming of the 
Princess Mave, and Congal went to his quarters ; 
but not to sleep or dream, for the Druid who had 
provoked the contest came to him bringing his 
golden wand, and all night long the Druid was 
weaving spells to charm the shield and spear and 
helmet of Congal, to make them invulnerable in 
the battle of the morrow. 

But while Enda lay dreaming of the Princess 
Mave, the little faii'y woman who gave him the 



4G FAIRY TALES 

water-dress, and crystal helmet, and shining 
spear on the banks of the Boyne, slid into his 
room, and she placed beside his conch a silver 
helmet and a silver shield. And she rubbed the 
helmet, and the shield, and the blue blade and 
haft of his spear with the juice of the red rowan 
berries, and she let a drop fall upon his face and 
hands, and then she slid out as silently as she 
came. 

When the morning broke, Enda sprang from 
his couch, and he could hardly believe his eyes 
when he saw the silver shield and helmet. At 
the sight of them he longed for the hour of battle, 
and he watched with eager gaze the sun climb- 
ing the sky; and, after hours of suspense, he 
heard the trumpet's sound and the clangor of 
the hollow shields, struck by the hard-pointed 
spears. 

Putting on the helmet, and fastening the shield 
upon his left arm, and taking the spear in his 
right hand, he stepped out bravely to the fight. 
The edge of the lawn before the palace gates 
was ringed by the princes, nobles, and chiefs of 
Erin. And the palace walls were thronged by 
all the beauties of the Court and all the noble 



THE HOUSE IN THE LAKE 47 

ladies of the land. And on Lis throne, sur- 
rounded by his Druids, his brehons, and his 
bards, was the king of Erin, and at his feet sat 
the lovely Lady Mave. 

As Enda stepped out upon the lawn, he saw 
Congal advancing from the ranks of the nobles, 
and the two champions approached each other 
until they met right in front of the throne. 

Then both turned towards the throne, and 
bowed to the king and the Princess Mave; and 
then facing each other again, they retired a 
space, and when their spears were poised, ready 
for battle, the king gave the signal, which was 
answered by the clang of stricken shields, and 
Congal and Enda launched their gleaming 
spears. They flashed like lightning in the sun- 
lit air, and in a second CongaFs had broken 
against Enda's shield ; but Enda's, piercing Con- 
gal's helmet, hurled him senseless on the plain. 

The nobles and chiefs could hardly realize that 
in that single second their boldest champion was 
overthrown; but when they saw him stretched 
motionless on the grassy sward, from out their 
ranks six warriors advanced to where the chief- 
tain lay, and sadly they bore him away upon 



48 FAIRY TALES 

their battle-sliields, and Enda remained victor 
upon the field. 

And then the king's voice rang ont clear as the 
sound of a trumpet in the still morning : 

" Bards and brehons, princes and nobles, and 
chiefs of Erin, Enda has proved himself a battle 
champion, and who amongst you now will dare 
gainsay his right to claim my daughter for his 
bride? " 

And no answer came. 

But when he summoned Enda to his throne, 
and placed the lady's hand in his, a cheer arose 
from the great assembly, that proved that jeal- 
ousy was extinguished in all hearts, and that all | 
believed that Enda was worthy of the winsome 
bride ; and never since that day, although a thou- 
sand years have passed, was there in all the 
world a brighter and gayer wedding than the 
wedding of Enda and the Princess Mave. 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 

ALONG, long time ago, Prince Cuglas,* 
master of the hounds to the high King of 
Erin, set out from Tara to the chase. As 
he Avas leaving the palace the light mists were 
drifting away from the hill-tops, and the rays of 
the morning sun were falling aslant on the 
grinan or sunny bower of the Princess Ailinn. 
Glancing towards it the prince doffed his plumed 
and jeweled hunting-cap, and the princess an- 
swered his salute by a wave of her little hand, 
that was as white as a wild rose in the hedges in 
June, and leaning from her bower, she watched 
the huntsman until his tossing plumes were hid- 
den by the green waving branches of the woods. 
The Princess Ailinn was over head and ears in 
love with Cuglas, and Cuglas was over head and 
ears in love with the Princess Ailinn, and he be- 
lieved that never was summer morning half as 
bright, or as sweet, or as fair as she. The 
glimpse which he had just caught of her filled his 

49 



50 FAIRY TALES 

heart with delight, and almost put all thought of 
hunting out of his head, when suddenly the tune- 
ful cries of the hounds, answered by a hundred 
echoes from the groves, broke upon his ear. 

The dogs had started a dappled deer that 
bounded away through the forest. The prince, 
spurring his gallant steed, pushed on in eager 
pursuit. 

On through the forest sped the deer, through 
soft, green, secret ways and flowery dells, then 
out from the forest, up heathery hills, and over 
long stretches of moorland, and across brown 
rushing streams, sometimes in yiew of the 
hounds, sometimes lost to sight, but alwaysv, 
ahead of them. 

All day long the chase continued, and at last, 
when the sun was sinking, the dogs were close 
upon the panting deer, and the prince believed he 
was about to secure his game, when the deer sud- 
denly disappeared through the mouth of a cave 
which opened before him. The dogs followed at 
his heels, and the prince endeavored to rein in his 
steed, but the impetuous animal bore him on, 
and soon was clattering over the stony floor of 
the cave in perfect darkness. Cuglas could 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 51 

hear ahead of him the cries of the hounds grow- 
ing fainter and fainter, as they increased the 
distance between them and him. Then the cries 
ceased altogether, and the only sound the prince 
heard was the noise of his horse's hoofs sound- 
ing in the hollow cave. Once more he en- 
deavored to check his career, but the reins broke 
in his hands, and in that instant the prince felt 
the horse had taken a plunge into a gulf, and 
was sinking down and down, as a stone cast 
from tlie summit of a cliff sinks down to the 
sea. At last the horse struck the ground again, 
and the prince was almost thrown out of his 
saddle, but he succeeded in regaining his seat. 
Then on through the darkness galloped the steed, 
and when he came into the light the prince's eyes 
were for some time unable to bear it. But when 
he got used to the brightness he saw he was gal- 
loping over a grassy plain, and in the distance 
he perceived the hounds rushing towards a wood 
faintly visible through a luminous summer haze. 
The prince galloped on, and as he approached 
the wood he saw coming towards him a comely 
champion, wearing a shining brown cloak, fas- 
tened by a bright bronze spear-like brooch, and 



52 FAIEY TALES 

bearing a white hazel wand in one hand, and a 
single-edged sword with a hilt made from the 
tooth of a sea-horse in the other ; '^ and the prince 
knew by the dress of the champion, and by his 
wand and sword, that ke was a royal herald. As 
the herald came close to him the prince's steed 
stopped of his own accord. 

" You are welcome, Cuglas," said the herald, 
" and I have been sent by the Princess Crede to 
greet you and to lead you to her court, where you 
have been so long expected." 

" I know not how this may be," said Cuglas. 

" How it has come about I shall tell you as we 
go along," said the herald. " The Princess 
Crede is the Queen of the Floating Island. And 
it chanced, once upon a day, when she was visit- 
ing her fairy kinsmen, who dwell in one of the 
pleasant hills that lie near Tara, she saw you 
with the high king and princes and nobles of 
Erin following the chase. And seeing you her 
heart went out to you, and wishing to bring you 
to her court, she sent one of her nymphs, in the 
form of a deer, to lure you on through the cave, 
which is the entrance to this land." 

" I am deeply honored by the preference shown 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 53 

me by the princess/' said Cuglas, " but I may not 
tarry in her court ; for above in Erin there is the 
Lady Ailinn, the loveliest of all the ladies who 
grace the royal palace, and before the princes 
and chiefs of Erin she has promised to be my 
bride." 

" Of that I know not," said the herald ; " but 
a true champion, like you, cannot, I know, re- 
fuse to come with me to the court of the Princess 
Crede." 

As the herald had said these words the prince 
and he were on the verge of the wood, and they 
entered upon a mossy pathway that broadened 
out as they advanced until it was as wide as one 
of the great roads of Erin. Before they had 
gone very far the prince heard the tinkling of 
silver bells in the distance, and almost as soon 
as he heard them he saw coming up towards him 
a troop of warriors on coal black steeds. All the 
warriors wore helmets of shining silver, and 
cloaks of blue silk. And on the horses' breasts 
were crescents of silver, on which were hung tiny 
silver bells, shaking out music with the motion of 
the horses. As the prince approached the cham- 
pions they lowered their spears, and dividing in 



54 FAIRY TALES 

two lines the prince and the herald passed be- 
tween the ranks, and the champions, forming 
again, followed on behind the prince. 

At last they passed through the wood, and they 
found themselves on a green plain, speckled with 
flowers, and they had not gone far when the 
prince saw coming towards him a hundred cham- 
pions on snow-white steeds, and around the 
breast of the steeds were crescents of gold, from 
which were hanging little golden bells.^ The 
warriors all wore golden helmets, and the shafts 
of their shining spears were of gold, and golden 
sandals on their feet, and yellow silken mantles 
fell down over their shoulders. And when the 
prince came near them they lowered their lances, 
and then they turned their horses' heads around 
and marched before him. And it was not long 
until above the pleasant jingle of the bells the 
prince heard the measured strains of music, and 
he saw coming towards him a band of harpers, 
dressed in green and gold, and when the harpers 
had saluted the prince they marched in front of 
the cavalcade, playing all the time, and it was 
not long until they came to a stream that ran 
like a blue riband around the foot of a green hill. 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 55 

on the top of which was a sparkling palace ; the 
stream was crossed by a golden bridge, so narrow 
that the horsemen had to go two-by-two. The 
herald asked the prince to halt and to allow all 
the champions to go before him; and the caval- 
cade ascended the hill, the sunlight brightly 
glancing on helmet and on lance, and when it 
reached the palace the horsemen filed around the 
walls. 

When at length the prince and herald crossed 
the bridge and began to climb the hill, the prince 
thought he felt the ground moving under them, 
and on looking back he could see no sign of the 
golden bridge, and the blue stream had already 
become as wide as a great river, and was becom- 
ing wider every second. 

" You are on the floating island now," said the 
herald, "and before you is the palace of the 
Princess Crede." 

At that moment the queen came out through 
the palace door, and the prince was so dazzled by 
her beauty, that only for the golden bracelet he 
wore upon his right arm, under the sleeve of his 
silken tunic, he might almost have forgotten the 
Princess Ailinn. This bracelet was made by the 



56 FAIEY TALES 

dwarfs who dwell in the heart of the Scandina- 
vian Mountains, and was sent with other costly 
presents by the King of Scandinavia to the King 
of Erin, and he gave it to the i)rincess, and it was 
the virtue of this bracelet, that whoever was 
wearing it could not forget the person who gave 
it to him, and it could never be loosened from the 
arm by any art or magic spell ; but if the wearer, 
even for a single moment, liked anyone better 
than the person who gave it to him, that very mo- 
ment the bracelet fell off from the arm and could 
never again be fastened on. And when the 
princess promised her hand in marriage to the 
Prince Cuglas, she closed the bracelet on his arm. 

The fairy queen knew nothing about the brace- 
let, and she hof>ed that before the prince was long 
in the floating island he would forget all about 
the princess. 

" You are welcome, Cuglas," said the queen, 
as she held out her hand, and Cuglas, having 
thanked her for her welcome, they entered the 
palace together. 

" You must be weary after your long jour- 
ney," said the queen. " My page will lead you to 
your apartments, where a bath of the cool blue 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 57 

waters of the lake lias been made ready for you, 
and when you have taken your bath the pages 
will lead you to the banquet hall, where the feast 
is spread." 

At the feast the prince was seated beside the 
queen, and she talked to him of all the x^leasures 
that were in store for him in fairyland, where 
pain, and sickness, and sorrow, and old age, are 
unknown, and where every rosy hour that flies 
is brighter than the one that has fled before it. 
And when the feast was ended the queen opened 
the dance with the prince, and it was not until 
the moon was high above the floating island that 
the prince retired to rest. 

He was so tired after his journey and the 
dancing that he fell into a sound sleep. When 
he awoke the next morning the sun was shining 
brightly, and he heard outside the palace the 
jingle of bells and the music of baying hounds, 
and his heart was stirred by memories of the 
many pleasant days on which he had led the 
chase over the plains and through the green 
woods of Tara. 

He looked out through the window, and he saw 
all the fairy champions mounted on their steeds 



58 FAIRY TALES 

ready for the chase, and at their head the fairy 
queen. And at that moment the pages came to 
say the queen wished to know if he would join 
them, and the ijrince went out and found his 
steed ready saddled and bridled, and they spent 
the day hunting in the forest that stretched away 
for miles behind the palace, and the night in 
feasting and dancing. 

When the prince awoke the following morning 
he was summoned by the pages to the presence of 
the queen. The prince found the queen on the 
lawn outside the palace surrounded by her court. 

" We shall go on the lake to-day, Cuglas," said 
the queen, and taking his arm she led him along 
the water's edge, all the courtiers following. 

When she was close to the water she waved her 
wand, and in a second a thousand boats, shining 
like glass, shot up from beneath the lake and set 
their bows against the bank. The queen and 
Cuglas stepped into one, and when they were 
seated two fairy harpers took their places in the 
prow. All the other boats were soon thronged 
by fairies, and then the queen waved her wand 
again, and an awning of purple silk rose over the 
boat, and silken awnings of various colors over 



r 




The queen wished to know if he would join 



them' 



. Page 58 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 59 

the others, and the royal boat moved off from the 
bank followed by all the rest, and in every boat 
sat a harper with a golden harp, and when the 
queen waved her wand for the third time, the 
harpers struck the trembling chords, and to 
the sound of the delightful music the boats glided 
over the sunlit lake. And on they went until 
they approached the mouth of a gentle river slid- 
ing down between banks clad with trees. Up 
the river, close to the bank and under the droop- 
ing trees, they sailed, and when they came to a 
bend in the river, from which the lake could be 
no longer seen, they pushed their prows in 
against the bank, and the queen and Cuglas, and 
all the party, left the boats and went on under 
the trees until they came to a mossy glade. 

Then the queen waved her wand, and silken 
couches were spread under the trees, and she and 
Cuglas sat on one apart from the others, and the 
courtiers took their places in proper order. 

And the queen waved her wand again, and 
wind shook the trees above them, and the most 
luscious fruit that was ever tasted fell down into 
their hands; and when the feast was over there 
was dancing in the glades to the music of the 



60 FAIRY TALES 

harps, and when they were tired dancing they set 
out for the boats, and the moon was rising above 
the trees as they sailed away over the lake, and 
it was not long until they reached the bank below 
the fairy palace. 

Well, between hunting in the forest, and sail- 
ing over the lake, and dancing in the greenwood 
glade and in the banquet hall, the days passed, 
but all the time the prince was thinking of the 
Princess Ailinn, and one moonlit night, when 
he was lying awake on his couch thinking of her, 
a shadow was suddenly cast on the floor. 

The prince looked towards the window, and 
what should he see sitting on the sill outside but 
a little woman tapping the pane with a golden 
bodkin. 

The prince jumped from his couch and opened 
the window, and the little woman floated on the 
moonbeams into the room and sat down on the 
floor. 

" You are thinking of the Princess Ailinn," 
said the little woman. 

" I never think of anj^one else," said the prince. 

" I know that," said the little woman, " and 
it's because of your love for each other, and be- 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 61 

cause her mother was a friend to me iii the days 
gone by, that I have come here to try and help 
you ; but there is not much time for talking, the 
nidit advances. At the bank below a boat 
awaits you. Step into it and it will lead you to 
the mainland, and when you reach it you will 
iind before you a path that will take you to the 
green fields of Erin and the plains of Tara. I 
know you will have to face danger. I know not 
what kind of danger ; but whatever it may be do 
not draw your sword before you tread upon the 
mainland, for if you do you shall never reach 
it, and the boat will come back again to the float- 
ing island; and now go and may luck go with 
you ; " and saying this the little woman climbed 
up the moonbeams and disappeared. 

The prince left the palace and descended to the 
lake, and there before him he saw a glistening 
boat; he stepped into it, and the boat went on 
and on beneath the moon, and at last he saw the 
mainland, and he could trace a winding path- 
way going away from the shore. The sight filled 
his heart with joy, but suddenly the milk-white 
moonshine died away, and looking up to the sky 
he saw the moon turning fiery red, and the waters 



62 FAIRY TALES 

of the lake, shining like silver a moment before, 
took a blood-red hue, and a wind arose that 
stirred the waters, and they leaped up against 
the little boat, tossing it from side to side. While 
Cuglas was wondering at the change, he heard 
a strange, unearthly noise ahead of him, and a 
bristling monster, lifting its claws above the 
water, in a moment was beside the boat and stuck 
one of his claws in the left arm of the prince, and 
pierced the flesh to the bone. Maddened by the 
pain the prince drew his sword and chopped off 
the monster's claw. The monster disappeared 
beneath the lake, and, as it did so, the color of the 
water changed, and the silver moonlight shone 
down from the sky again, but the boat no longer 
went on towards the mainland, but sped back 
towards the floating island, while forth from 
the island came a fleet of fairy boats to meet it, 
led by the shallop of the fairy queen. The queen 
greeted the prince as if she knew not of his at- 
tempted flight, and to the music of the harps the 
fleet returned to the palace. 

The next day passed and the night came, and 
again the prince was lying on the couch, thinking 
of the Princess Ailinn, and again he saw the 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 63 

shadow on the floor and heard the tapping 
against the window. 

And when he opened it the little woman slid 
into the room. 

" You failed last night," she said, " but I come 
to give you another chance. To-morrow the 
queen must set out on a visit to her fairy kins- 
men, who dwell in the green hill near the plain 
of Tara ; she cannot take you with her, for if your 
feet once touched the green grass that grows in 
the fruitful fields of Erin, she could never bring 
you back again. And so, when j^ou find she has 

^ left the palace, go at once into the banquet hall 
and look behind the throne, and you will see a 
small door let down into the ground. Pull this 
up and descend the steps which you will see. 
Where they lead to I cannot tell. What dangers 

, may be before you I do not know; but this I 

j know, if you accept anything, no matter what it 
is, from anyone you may meet on your way, you 
shall not set foot on the soil of Erin." 
And having said this the little woman, rising 

i from the floor, floated out through the window. 
The prince returned to his couch, and the next 

j morning, as soon as he heard the queen had left 



64 FAIRY TALES 

the palace, he hastened to the banquet hall. He 
discovered the door and descended the steps, and 
he found himself in a gloomy and lonesome val- 
ley. Jagged mountains, black as night, rose on 
either side, and huge rocks seemed ready to 
topple down upon him at every step. Through 
broken clouds a watery moon shed a faint, fit- 
ful light, that came and went as the clouds, 
driven by a moaning wind, passed over the 
valley. 

Cuglas, nothing daunted, pushed on boldly 
until a bank of cloud shut out completely the 
struggling moon, and closing over the valley cov- 
ered it like a pall, leaving him in perfect dark- 
ness. At the same moment the moaning wind 
died away, and with it died away all sound. The 
darkness and the deathlike silence sent an icy 
chill to the heart of Cuglas. He held his hand 
close to his eyes, but he saw it not. He shouted 
that he might hear the sound of his own voice, 
but he heard it not. He stamped his foot on the 
rocky ground, but no sound was returned to him. 
He rattled his sword in its brazen scabbard, but 
it gave no answer back to him. His heart grew 
colder and colder, when suddenly the cloud above 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 65 

him was rent in a dozen places, and lightning 
flashed through the valley, and the thunder 
rolled over the echoing mountains. In the lurid 
glare of the lightning Cuglas saw a hundred 
ghostly forms sweeping towards him, uttering as 
they came nearer and nearer shrieks so terrible 
that the silence of death could more easily be 
borne. Cuglas turned to escape, but they 
hemmed him round, and pressed their clammy 
hands upon his face. 

With a yell of horror he drew his sword and 
slashed about him, and that very moment the 
forms vanished, the thunder ceased, the dark 
cloud passed, and the sun shone out as bright as 
on a summer day, and then Cuglas knew the 
forms he had seen were those of the wild people 
of the glen.^ 

With renewed courage he pursued his way 
through the valley, and after three or four wind- 
ings it took him out upon a sandy desert. He 
had no sooner set foot upon the desert than he 
heard behind him a crashing sound louder than 
thunder. He looked around, and he saw that 
the walls of mountain through which he had just 
passed had fallen into the valley, and filled it up 



66 FAIRY TALES 

so that he could no longer tell where it had 
been. 

The sun was beating fiercely on the desert, and 
the sands were almost as hot as burning cinders ; 
and as Cuglas advanced over them his body be- 
came dried up, and his tongue clove to the roof 
of his mouth, and when his thirst was at its 
height a fountain of sparkling water sprang up 
in the burning plain a few paces in front of him ; 
but when he came up quite close to it and 
stretched out his parched hands to cool them in 
the limi)id waters, the fountain vanished as sud- 
denly as it appeared. With great pain, and al- 
most choking with heat and thirst, he struggled 
on, and again the fountain sprang up in front 
of him and moved before him, almost within his 
reach. At last he came to the end of the desert, 
and he saw a green hill up which a pathway 
climbed; but as he came to the foot of the hill, 
there, sitting right in his way, was a beautiful} 
fairy holding out towards him a crystal cup, over 
the rim of which flowed water as clear as crystal. 
Unable to resist the temptation, the prince seized 
the cold, bright goblet, and drank the water. 
When he did so his thirst vanished, but the fair}'. 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 67 

and the green hill, and the burning desert disap- 
peared, and he was standing in the forest behind 
the palace of the fairy queen. 

That evening the queen returned, and at the 
feast she talked as gaily to the prince as if she 
knew not of his attempt to leave the Floating 
Island, and the prince spoke as gaily as he could 
to her, although in his heart there was sadness 
when he remembered that if he had only dashed 
away the crystal cup, he would be at that mo- 
ment in the royal banquet hall of Tara, sitting 
beside the Princess Ailinn. 

And he thought the feast would never end ; but 
it was over at last, and the prince returned to 
his apartments. And that night, as he lay on 
his couch, he kept his eyes fixed upon the win- 
dow; but hours passed, and there was no sign 
of anyone. At long last, and when he had given 
up all hope of seeing her, he heard a tapping at 
the window, and he got up and opened it, and the 
little woman came in. 

" You failed again to-day," said she — " failed 
just at the very moment when you were about to 
step on the green hills of Erin. I can give you 
only one chance more. It will be your last. 



68 FAIRY TALES 

The queen will go liimting in the morning. Join 
the hunt, and Avhen you are separated from the 
rest of the party in the wood throw your reins 
upon your horse's neck and he will lead you to 
the edge of the lake. Then cast this golden bod- 
kin into the lake in the direction of the main- 
land, and a golden bridge will be thrown across, 
over which you can pass safely to the fields of 
Erin ; but take care and do not draw your sword, 
for if you do your steed will bear you back again 
to the Floating Island, and here you must re- 
main forever." Then handing the bodkin to the 
prince, and saying good-by, the little woman dis- 
appeared. 

The next morning the queen and the prince 
and all the court went out to hunt, and a fleet 
white deer started out before them, and the royal 
party pressed after him in pursuit. The prince's 
steed outstripped the others, and when he was 
alone the prince flung the reins upon his horse's 
neck, and before long he came to the edge of the 
lake. 

Then the prince cast the bodlvin on to the 
water, and a golden bridge was thrown across 
to the mainland, and the horse galloped on to it, 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 69 

and when the prince was more than halfway he 
saw riding towards him a champion wearing a 
silver helmet, and carrying on his left arm a sil- 
ver shield, and holding in his right hand a gleam- 
ing sword. As he came nearer he struck his 
shield with his sword and challenged the prince 
to battle. The prince's sword almost leaped out 
of its scabbard at the martial sound, and, like a 
true knight of Tara, he dashed against his foe, 
and swinging his sword above his head, with one 
blow he clove the silver helmet, and the strange 
warrior reeled from his horse and fell upon the 
golden bridge. The prince, content with this 
achievement, spurred his horse to pass the fallen 
champion, but the horse refused to stir, and the 
bridge broke in two almost at his feet, and the 
part of it between him and the mainland disap- 
peared beneath the lake, carrying with it the 
horse and the body of the champion, and before 
the prince could recover from his surprise, his 
steed wheeled round and was galloping back, and 
when he reached the land he rushed through the 
forest, and the prince was not able to pull him 
up until he came to the palace door. 

All that night the prince lay awake on his 



70 FAIRY TALES 

couch with his eyes fixed upon the window, but 
no shadow fell upon the floor, and there was no 
tapping at the pane, and with a heavy heart he 
joined the hunting party in the morning. And 
day folloTv'ed day, and his heart was sadder and 
sadder, and found no pleasure in the joys and 
delights of fairyland. And when all in the pal- 
ace were at rest he used to roam through the 
forest, always thinking of the Princess Ailinn, 
and hoping against hope that the little woman 
would come again to Jiim, but at last he began to 
despair of ever seeing her. It chanced one night 
he rambled so far that he found himself on the 
verge of the lake, at the very spot from which 
the golden bridge had been thrown across the 
waters, and as he gazed wistfully upon them a 
boat shot up and came swiftly to the bank, and 
who should he see sitting in the stern but the lit- 
tle woman. 

" Ah, Cuglas, Cuglas," she said, " I gave you 
three chances, and you failed in all of them." 

" I should have borne the pain inflicted by the 
monster's claw," said Cuglas. " I should have 
borne the thirst on the sandy desert, and dashed 
the crystal cup untasted from the fairy's hand; 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 71 

but I could never have faced the nobles and 
chiefs of Erin if I had refused to meet the chal- 
lenge of the battle champion on the golden 
bridge." 

" And you would have been no true knight of 
Erin, and you would not have been worthy of the 
wee girl who loves you, the bonny Princess 
Ailinn, if you had refused to meet it," said the 
little woman ; " but for all that you can never 
return to the fair hills of Erin. But cheer up, 
Cuglas, there are mossy ways and forest paths 
and nestling bowers in fairyland. Lonely they 
are, I know, in your eyes now," said the little 
woman ; " but maybe," she added, with a laugh 
as musical as the ripple on a streamlet when 
summer is in the air, " maybe you won't always 
think them so lonely." 

" You think I'll forget Ailinn for the fairy 
queen," said Cuglas, with a sigh. 

" I don't think anything of the kind," said she. 

" Then what do jou mean? " said the prince. 

" Oh, I mean what I mean," said the little 
woman. " But I can't stop here all night talk- 
ing to you: and, indeed, it is in your bed you 
ought to be yourself. So now" good-night; and 



72 • FAIRY TALES 

I have no more to say, except that perhaps, if you 
happen to be here this night week at this very 
hour, when the moon will be on the waters, you 

will see But no matter what you will see,"' 

said she ; " I must be off." 

And before the prince could say another word 
the boat sped away from the bank, and he was 
alone. He went back to the palace, and he fell 
asleep that night only to dream of the Princess 
Ailinn. 

As for the princess, she was pining away in the 
palace of Tara, the color had fled from her 
cheeks, and her eyes, which had been once so 
bright they would have lighted darkness like a 
star, lost nearly all their luster, and the king's 
leeches could do nothing for her, and at last they 
gave up all hope, and the king and queen of Erin 
and the ladies of the court watched her couch 
by night and by day sadly waiting for her last 
hour. 

At length one day, when the sun was shining 
brightly over Tara's plain, and its light, softened 
by the intervening curtains, was falling in the 
sick chamber, the royal watchers noticed a sweet 
change coming over the face of the princess ; the 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 73 

bloom of love and youth were fliisliiug on her 
cheeks, and from her eyes shone out the old, soft, 
tender light, and they began to hope she was 
about to be restored to them, when suddenly the 
room was in darkness as if the night had swept 
across the sky, and blotted out the sun. Then 
they heard the sound of fairy music, and over the 
couch where the princess lay they beheld a gleam 
of golden light, but only for a moment; and 
again there was perfect darkness, and the fairy 
music ceased. Then, as suddenly as it came the 
darkness vanished, the softened sunlight once 
more filled the chamber, and rested ui)on the 
couch; but the couch was empty, and the royal 
watchers, looking at each other, said in whis- 
pers : " The fairies have carried away the 
Princess Ailinn to fairyland." 

Well, that very day the prince roamed by him- 
self through the forest, counting the hours until 
the day would fade in the sky and the moon come 
climbing up, and at last, when it was shining full 
above the waters, he went down to the verge of 
the lake, and he looked out over the gleaming 
surface watching for the vision promised by the 
little woman. But he could see nothing, and 



74 FAIRY TALES 

was about to turn away when he heard the faint 
sound of fairy music. He listened and listened, 
and the sound came nearer and clearer, and 
away in the distance, like drops of glistening 
water breaking the level of the lake, he saw a 
fleet of fairy boats, and he thought it was the 
fairy queen sailing in the moonlight. And it 
was the fairy queen, and soon he was able to 
recognize the royal shallop leading the others, 
and as it came close to the bank he saw the little 
woman sitting in the prow between the little 
harpers, and at the stern was the fairy queen, 
and by her side the lady of his heart, the Princess 
Ailinn. In a second the boat was against the 
bank, and the princess in his arms. And he 
kissed her again and again. 

" And have you never a kiss for me? " said the 
little woman, tapping his hand with the little 
gold bodkin. 

"A kiss and a dozen," said Cuglas, as he 
caught the little fairy up in his arms. 

" Oh, fie, Cuglas," said the queen. 

" Oh, the princess isn't one bit jealous," said 
the little woman. " Are you, Ailinn? " 

" Indeed I am not," said Ailinn. 



THE ENCHANTED CAVE 75 

" And you should not be," said the fairy queen, 
" for never lady yet had truer knight than Cug- 
las. I loved him, and I love him dearly. I lured 
him here hoping that in the delights of fairyland 
he might forget you. It was all in vain. I 
know now that there is one thing no fairy power 
above or below the stars, or beneath the waters, 
can ever subdue, and that is love. And here 
together forever shall you and Cuglas dwell, 
where old age shall never come upon you, and 
where pain or sorrow or sickness is unknown." 

And Cuglas never returned to the fair hills of 
Erin, and ages passed away since the morning he 
followed the hounds into the fatal cave, but his 
story was remembered by the firesides, and some- 
times, even yet, the heiniboy watching his cattle 
in the fields hears the tuneful cry of hounds, and 
follows it till it leads him to a darksome cave, 
and as fearfully he listens to the sound becoming 
fainter and fainter he heai's the clatter of hoofs 
over the stony floor, and to this day the cave 
bears the name of the prince who entered it never 
to return,* 

* Uaimh Benla'h Conglais, the cave of the road of Cuglas — now 
Baltinglass— in the County Wicklow. 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 

ALONG, long time ago there lived in a little 
hut on the borders of a great forest a 
huntsman and his wife and son. From 
his earliest years the boy, whose name was Fer- 
gus, used to hunt with his father in the forest, 
and he grew up strong and active, sure and swift- 
footed as a deer, and as free and fearless as the 
wind. He was tall and handsome ; as supple as 
a mountain ash, his lips were as red as its ber- 
ries ; his eyes were as blue as the skies in spring ; 
and his hair fell down over his shoulders like a 
shower of gold. His heart was as light as a 
bird's, and no bird was fonder of green woods 
and Avaving branches. He had lived since his 
birth in the hut in the forest, and had never 
wished to leave it, until one winter night a wan- 
dering minstrel sought shelter there, and paid 
for his night's lodging with songs of love and 
battle. Ever since that night Fergus pined for 
another life. He no longer found joy in the 

76 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 77 

music of tlie hounds or in the cries of the hunts- 
men in forest glacles. He yearned for the chance 
of battle, and the clang of shields, and the fierce 
shouts of fighting warriors, and he spent all his 
spare hours practicing on the harp and learning 
the use of arms, for in those days the bravest 
warriors were also bards. In this way the 
spring and summer and autumn passed; and 
when the winter came again it chanced that on a 
stormy night, when thunder was rattling through 
the forest, smiting the huge oaks and hurling 
them crashing to the earth, Fergus lay awake 
thinking of his present lot, and wondering what 
the future might have in store for him. The 
lightning was playing around the hut, and 
every now and then a flash brightened up the 
interior. 

After a peal, louder than any which had pre- 
ceded it, Fergus heard three loud knocks at the 
door. He called out to his parents that some- 
one was knocking. 

" If that is so," said his father, " open at once; 
this is no night to keep a poor wanderer outside 
our door." 

Fergus did as he was bidden, and as he opened 



78 FAIRY TALES 

the door a flash of lightning showed him, stand- 
ing at the threshold, a little wizened old man 
with a small harp under his arm. 

" Come in, and welcome," said Fergus, and 
the little man stepped into the room. 

" It is a wild night, neighbors," said he. 

" It is, indeed, a wild night," said the hunts- 
man and his wife, who had got up and dressed 
themselves ; " and sorry we are we have no bet- 
ter shelter or better fare to offer you, but we give 
you the best we have." 

" A king cannot do more than his best," said 
the little man. 

The huntsman's wife lit the fire, and soon the 
pine logs flashed up into a blaze, and made 
the hut bright and warm. She then brought 
forth a peggin of milk and a cake of barley- 
bread. 

" You must be hungry, sir," she said. 

" Hungry I am," said he ; " but I wouldn't ask 
for better fare than this if I were in the king's 
palace." 

" Thank you kindly, sir," said she, " and I 
hope you will eat enough, and that it will do you 
good." 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 79 

" And while you are eating your supper," said 
the huntsman, " I'll make you a bed of fresh 
rushes." 

" Don't put 3'ourself to that trouble," said the 
little man. " When I have done my supper I'll 
lie down here by the fire, if it is pleasing to you, 
and I'll sleep like a top until morning. And 
now go back to your beds and leave me to myself, 
and maybe some time when you won't be exj)ect- 
ing it I'll do a good turn for your kindness to the 
poor wayfarer." 

" Oh, it's no kindness at all," said the hunts- 
man's wife. " It would be a queer thing if an 
Irish cabin would not give shelter and welcome 
in a wild night like this. So good night, now, 
and we hope you will sleep well.'' 

" Good night," said the little man, " and may 
you and yours never sup sorrow until your djdng 
day." 

The huntsman and his wife and Fergus then 
went back to their beds, and the little man, hav- 
ing finished his supper, curled himself up by the 
fire, and was soon fast asleep. 

About an hour after a loud clap of thunder 
awakened Fergus, and before it had died away 



80 FAIRY TxiLES 

lie heard three knocks at the door. He aroused 
his parents and told them. 

" Get up at once," said his mother, "■ this is no 
night to keep a stranger outside our door." 

Fergus rose and opened the door, and a flash of 
lightning showed him a little old woman, with a 
shuttle in her hand, standing outside. 

" Come in, and welcome," said he, and the lit- 
tle old woman stepped into the room. 

" Blessings be on them who give welcome to a 
wanderer on a wild night like this," said the old 
woman. 

" And who wouldn't give welcome on a night 
like this? " said the huntsman's wife, coming 
forward with a peggin of milk and a barley cake 
in her hand, " and sorry we are we have not bet- 
ter fare to offer you." 

" Enough is as good as a feast," said the little 
woman, " and now go back to your beds and 
leave me to myself." 

" Not till I shake down a bed of rushes for 
you," said the huntsman's wife. 

" Don't mind the rushes," said the little 
woman ; " go back to your beds. I'll sleep here 
by the fire." 




Fergus knew it was the Pooka, the wild horse of 

the mountjiins" .... Page 81 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 81 

The huntsman's wife went to bed, and the lit- 
tle old woman, having eaten her supper, lay down 
by the fire, and was soon fast asleep. 

About an hour later another clap of thunder 
startled Fergus. Again he heard three knocks 
at the door. He roused his parents, but he did 
not wait for orders from them. He opened the 
door, and a flash of lightning showed him outside 
the threshold a low-sized, shaggy, wild-looking 
horse. And Fergus knew it was the Pooka, the 
wild horse of the mountains. Bold as Fergus 
was, his heart beat quickly as he saw fire issuing 
from the Pooka's nostrils. But, banishing fear, 
he cried out : 

" Come in, and welcome." 

" Welcome you are," said the huntsman, " and 
sorry we are that we have not better shelter or 
fare to offer you." 

" I couldn't wish a better welcome," said the 
Pooka, as he came over near the fire and sat down 
on his haunches. 

" Maybe you would like a little bit of this, 
Master Pooka," said the huntsman's wife, as she 
offered him a barley cake. 

" I never tasted anything sweeter in my life," 



82 FAIRY TALES 

said the Pooka, crunching it between his teeth, 
" and now if you can give me a sup of milk, I'll 
want for nothing." 

The huntsman's wife brought him a peggin of 
milk. When he had drunk it, " Now," says the 
Pooka, " go back to your beds, and I'll curl my- 
self up by the fire and sleep like a top till morn- 
ing.'^ 

And soon everybody in the hut was fast 
asleep. 

When the morning came the storm had gone, 
and the sun was shining through the windows of 
the hut. At the song of the lark Fergus got up, 
and no one in the world was ever more surprised 
than he when he saw no sign of the little old man, 
or the little old woman, or the wild horse of the 
mountains. His parents were also surprised, 
and they all thought that they must have been 
dreaming until they saw the empty peggins 
around the fire and some pieces of broken bread ; 
and they did not know what to think of it all. 

From that day forward the desire grew 
stronger in the heart of Fergus for a change of 
life; and one day he told his parents that he was 
resolved to seek his fortune. He said he wished 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 83 

to be a soldier, and that he would set out for the 
king's palace, and try to join the ranks of the 
Feni. 

About a week afterwards he took leave of his 
parents, and having; received their blessing he 
struck out for the road that led to the palace of 
the High King of Erin. He arrived there just at 
the time when the gi'eat captain of the Fenian 
host was recruiting his battalions, which had 
been thinned in recent battle. 

The manly figure of Fergus, his gallant bear- 
ing, and handsome face, all told in his favor. 
But before he could be received into the Fenian 
ranks he had to prove that he could play the 
harp like a bard, that he could contend with staff 
and shield against nine Fenian warriors, that 
he could run with plaited hair through the 
tangled forest without loosening a single hair, 
and that in his course he could jump over trees 
as high as his head, and stoop under trees as low 
as his knee, and that he could run so lightly that 
the rotten twigs should not break under his feet. 
Fergus proved equal to all the tests, thanks to 
the wandering minstrel who taught him the use 
of the harp, to his own brave heart, and to his 



84 FAIEY TALES 

forest training. He was enrolled in the second 
battalion of the Feni, and before long he was its 
bravest and ablest champion. 

At that very time it happened that the niece of 
the High King of Erin was staying with the king 
and queen in their palace at Tara. The princess 
was the loveliest lady in all the land. She was 
as proud as she was beautiful. The princes and 
chieftains of Erin in vain sought her hand in 
marriage. From Alba and Spain, and the far- 
off isles of Greece, kings came to woo her. From 
the northern lands came vikings in stately gal- 
leys with brazen prows, whose oarsmen tore the 
.white foam from the emerald seas as they swept 
towards the Irish coasts. But the lady had 
vowed she would wed with no one except a battle 
champion who could excel in music the chief 
bard of the High King of Erin; who could out- 
strip on his steed in the great race of Tara the 
white steed of the plains; and who could give 
her as a wedding robe a garment of all the colors 
of the rainbow, so finely spun that when folded 
up it would fit in the palm of her small white 
hand. To fulfill these three conditions was im- 
possible for all her suitors, and it seemed as if 






THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 85 

the loveliest lady of the land would go unmar- 
ried to her grave. 

It chanced that once, on a day when the Fenian 
battalions were engaged in a hurling-match, Fer- 
gus beheld the lady watching the match from her 
sunny bower. He no sooner saw her than he 
fell over head and ears in love with her, and he 
thought of her by night, and he thought of her 
by day, and believing that his love was hopeless, 
he often wished he had never left his forest- 
home. 

The great fair of Tara ^ was coming on, and 
all the Feni were busy from morning till night 
practicing feats of arms and games, in qrder to 
take part in the contests to be held during the 
fair. And Fergus, knowing that the princess 
would be present, determined to do his best to 
win the prizes which were to be contended for 
before the ladies' eyes. 

The fair began on the 1st of August, but for a 
whole week before the five great roads of Erin 
were thronged with people of all sorts. Princes 
and warriors on their steeds, battle champions 
in their chariots, harpers in hundreds, smiths 
with gleaming spears and shields and harness 



86 FAIEY TALES 

for battle steeds and chariots ; troops of men and 
boys leading racehorses; jewelers with gold 
drinking-horns, and brooches, and pins, and ear- 
rings, and costly gems of all kinds, and chess- 
boards of silver and gold, and golden and silver 
chessmen in bags of woven brass; dyers wdth 
their many-colored fabrics; bands of jugglers; 
drovers goading on herds of cattle; shepherds 
driving their sheep ; huntsmen with spoils of the 
chase; dwellers in the lakes or by the fish- 
abounding rivers with salmon and speckled 
trout; and countless numbers of peasants on 
horseback and on foot, all wending their way tt) 
the great meeting-place by the mound, which a 
thousand years before had been raised over the 
grave of the great queen. For there the fair was 
to be held. 

On the opening day the High King, attended 
by the four kings of Erin, set out from the palace, 
and with them went the queen and the ladies of 
the court in sparkling chariots. The princess 
rode in the chariot with the High Queen, under 
an awning made of the wings of birds, to protect 
them from the rays of the sun. Following the 
queen were the court ladies in other chariots, 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 87 

under awnings of purple or of yellow silk. Then 
came the brehons, the great judges of the land, 
and the chief bards of the high court of Tara, 
and the Druids, crowned with oak leaves, and 
carrying wands of divination in their hands. 

When the royal party reached the ground it 
took its place in inclosures right up against the 
monumental mound. The High King sat with 
the four kings of Erin, all wearing their golden 
helmets, for thev wore their diadems in battle 
only. In an inclosure next the king's sat the 
queen and the princess and all the ladies of the 
court. At either side of the royal pavilions were 
others for the dames and ladies and nobles and 
chiefs of different degrees, forming part of a 
circle on the plain, and the stands and benches 
for the people were so arranged as to complete 
the circle, and in the round green space within 
it, so that all might hear and see, the contests 
were to take place. 

At a signal from the king, who was greeted 
with a thunderous cheer, the heralds rode round 
the circle, and having struck their sounding 
shields three times with their swords, they made 
a solemn proclamation of peace. Then was sung 



88 FAIRY TALES 

by all the assembled bards^ to the accompani- 
ment of their harj^s, the chant in honor of the 
mighty dead. When this was ended, again the 
heralds struck their shields, and the contests be- 
gan. The first contest was the contest of spear- 
throwing between the champions of the seven 
battalions of the Feni. When the seven cham- 
pions took their places in front of the royal in- 
closure, everyone, even the proud princess, was 
struck by the manly beauty and noble bearing of 
Fergus. 

The champions poised their spears, and at a 
stroke from the heralds upon their shields the 
seven spears sped flashing through the air. They 
all struck the ground, shafts up, and it was seen 
that two were standing side by side in advance 
of the rest, one belonged to Fergus, the other 
to the great chief, Oscar. The contest for the 
prize then lay between Oscar and Fergus, and 
when they stood in front of the king, holding 
their spears aloft, every heart was throbbing 
with excitement. Once more the heralds struck 
their shields, and, swifter than the lightning's 
flash, forth went the spears, and when Fergus's 
spear was seen shivering in the ground a full 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 89 

length ahead of the great chief Oscar's, the air 
was shaken by a wild cheer that was heard far 
beyond the plains of Tara. And as Fergus ap- 
proached the high king to receive the prize the 
cheers were renewed. But Fergus thought more 
of the winsome glance of the princess than he 
did of the prize or the sounding cheers. And 
Princess Maureen was almost sorry for her vow, 
for her heart was touched by the beauty of the 
Fenian champion. 

Other contests followed, and the day passed, 
and the night fell, and while the Fenian warriors 
were reveling in their camps the heart of Fer- 
gus, victor as he was, was sad and low. He 
escaped from his companions, and stole away 
to his native forest, for — 

" When the heart is sick and sorest, 
There is balsam in the forest — 
There is balsam in the forest 

For its pain. " 

And as he lay under the spreading branches, 
watching the stars glancing through the leaves, 
and listening to the slumb'rous murmur of the 
waters, a strange peace came over him. 

But in the camp which he had left, and in the 



90 FAIRY TALES 

vast multitude on the plains of Tara, there was 
stir and revelry, and babbling speculation as to 
the contest of to-morrow — the contest which was 
to decide whether the chief bard of Erin was to 
hold his own against all comers, or yield the 
palm. For rumor said that a great Skald had 
come from the northern lands to compete with 
the Irish bard. 

At last, over the Fenian camp, and over the 
great plain and the multitude that thronged it, 
sleep fell, clothing them with a silence as deep as 
that which dwelt in the forest, where, dreaming 
of the princess, Fergus lay. He awoke at the 
first notes of the birds, but though he felt he 
ought to go back to his companions and be wit- 
ness of the contest which might determine 
whether the princess was to be another's bride, 
his great love and his utter despair of winning 
her so oppressed him that he lay as motionless as 
a broken reed. He scarcelj^ heard the music of 
the birds, and paid no heed to the murmur of the 
brook rushing by his feet. The crackling of 
branches near him barelj^ disturbed him, but 
when a shadow fell across his eyes he looked up 
gloomil}^, and saw, or thought he saw, someone 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 91 

standing before him. He started up, and who 
should he see but the little wizened old man 
who found shelter in his father's hut on the 
stormy night. 

" This is a nice place for a battle cham]3ion to 
be. This is a nice place for you to be on the day 
which is to decide who will be the successful 
suitor of the princess." 

" What is it to me." said Fergus, " who is to 
win her since I cannot? " 

" I told you," said the little man, " the night 
you opened the door for me, that the time might 
come when I might be able to do a good turn for 
you and yours. The time has come. Take this 
harp, and my luck go with you, and in the contest 
of the bards to-day you'll reap the reward of 
the kindness you did when you opened your 
door to the poor old wayfarer in the midnight 
storm." 

The little man handed his harp to Fergus and 
disappeared as swiftly as the wind that passes 
through the leaves. 

Fergus, concealing the harp under his silken 
cloak, reached the camp before his comrades had 
aroused themselves from sleep. 



92 FAIRY TALES 

At length the hour arrived when the great con- 
test was to take place. 

The king gave the signal, and as the chief bard 
of Erin was seen ascending the mound in front 
of the royal inclosures he was greeted with a 
roar of cheers, but at the first note of his harp 
silence like that of night fell on the mighty 
gathering. 

As he moved his fingers softly over the strings 
every heart was hushed, filled with a sense of 
balmy rest. The lark soaring and singing above 
his head paused mute and motionless in the still 
air, and no sound was heard over the spacious 
plain save the dreamy music. Then the bard 
struck another key, and a gentle sorrow pos- 
sessed the hearts of his hearers, and unbidden 
tears gathered to their eyes. Then, with bolder 
hand, he swept his fingers across his lyre, and all 
hearts were moved to joy and pleasant laughter, 
and eyes that had been dimmed by tears sparkled 
as brightly as running waters dancing in the sun. 
When the last notes had died away a cheer arose, 
loud as the voice of the storm in the glen when 
the live thunder is reveling on the mountain 
tops. As soon as the bard had descended the 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 93 

mound the Skald from the northern lands took 
his place, greeted by cries of welcome from a 
hundred thousand throats. He touched his 
harp, and in the perfect silence was heard the 
strain of the mermaid's song, and through it 
the pleasant ripple of summer waters on the 
pebbly beach. Then the theme was changed, and 
on the air was borne the measured sweep of 
countless oars and the swish of waters around 
the prows of contending galleys, and the breezy 
voices of the sailors and the sea-bird's cry. Then 
his theme was changed to the mirth and laugh- 
ter of the banquet-hall, the clang of meeting 
drinking-horns, and songs of battle. When the 
last strain ended, from the mighty host a great 
shout went up, loud as the roar of winter billows 
breaking in the hollows of the shore; and men 
knew not whom to declare the victor, the chief 
bard of Erin or the Skald of the northern lands. 

In the height of the debate the cry arose that 
another competitor had ascended the mound, and 
there standing in view of all was Fergus, the 
huntsman's son. All eyes Avere fastened upon 
him, but no one looked so eagerly as the princess. 

He touched his harp with gentle fingers, and a 



94 FAIRY TALES 

sound low and soft as a faint summer breeze 
passing tlirougli forest trees stole out, and then 
was heard the rustle of birds through the 
branches, and the dreamy murmur of waters lost 
in deepest woods, and all the fairy echoes whis- 
pering when the leaves are motionless in the 
noonday heat; then followed notes cool and soft 
as the drip of summer showers on the parched 
grass, and then the song of the blackbird, sound- 
ing as clearly as it sounds in long silent spaces 
of the evening, and then in one sweet jocund 
burst the multitudinous voices that ^hail the 
breaking of the morn. And the lark, singing 
and soaring above the minstrel, sank mute and 
motionless upon his shoulder, and from all the 
leafy woods the birds came thronging out and 
formed a fluttering canopy above his head. 

When the bard ceased playing no shout arose 
from the mighty multitude, for the strains of his 
harp, long after its chords were stilled, held their 
hearts spellbound. 

And when he had passed away from the mound 
of contest all knew there was no need to declare 
the victor.^ And all were glad the comely 
Fenian champion had maintained the supremacy 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 95 

of the bards of Erin. But there was one heart 
sad, the heart of the princess; and now she 
wished more than ever that she had never made 
her hateful vow. 

Other contests went on, but Fergus took no 
interest in them ; and once more he stole away to 
the forest glade. His heart was sorrowful, for 
he thought of the great race of the morning, 
and he knew that he could not hope to compete 
with the rider of the white steed of the plains. 
I And as he lay beneath the spreading branches 
during the whole night long his thoughts were 
not of the victory he had won, but of the princess, 
who was as far away from him as ever. He 
passed the night without sleep, and when the 
morning came he rose and walked aimlessly 
through the woods. 

A deer starting from a thicket reminded him 
of the happy days of his boyhood, and once more 
the wish came back to him that he had never left 
his forest home. As his eyes followed the deer 
wistfully, suddenly he started in amazement. 
The deer vanished from view, and in his stead 
was the wild horse of the mountains. 

" I told you I'd do you a good turn," said the 



96 FAIRY TALES 

Pooka, " for tlie kindness you and yours did me 
on that wild winter's night. The day is passing. 
You have no time to lose. The white steed of the 
plains is coming to the starting-post. Jump on 
my back, and remember, ' Faint heart never won 
fair lady,' " 

In half a second Fergus was bestride the 
Pooka, whose coat of shaggy hair became at once 
as glossy as silk, and just at the very moment 
when the king was about to declare there was no 
steed to compete with the white steed of the 
plains, the Pooka, with Fergus upon his back, 
galloped up in front of the royal inclosure. 
When the people saw the champion a thun- 
derous shout rose up that startled the birds in 
the skies, and sent them flying to the groves. 

And in the ladies' inclosure was a rustle of 
many-colored scarves wa^dng in the air. At the 
striking of the shields the contending steeds 
rushed from the post with the swiftness of a 
swallow's flight. But before the white steed of 
the plains had gone halfway round, Fergus and 
the wild horse of the mountains had passed thi^ 
winning post, greeted by such cheers as had 
never before been heard on the plains of Tara. 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 97 

Fergus heard the cheers, but scarcely heeded 
them, for his heart went out through his eyes 
that were fastened on the princess, and a wild 
hope stirred him that his glance was not ungrate- 
ful to the loveliest lady of the land. 

And the princess was sad and sorry for her 
vow, for she believed that it was beyond the 
power of Fergus to bring her a robe of all the 
colors of the rainbow, so subtly woven as to fit 
in the palm of her soft, white hand. 

That night also Fergus went to the forest, not 
too sad, because there was a vague hope in his 
heart that had never been there before. He lay 
down under the branches, Avith his feet towards 
the rustling waters, and the smiles of the 
princess gilded his slumbers, as the rays of the 
rising sun gild the glades of the forest ; and when 
the morning came he was scarcely surprised 
when before him appeared the little old woman 
with the shuttle he had welcomed on the win- 
ter's night. 

" You think you have won her already," said 
the little woman. " And so you have, too ; her 
heart is all your own, and I'm half inclined to 
think that my trouble will be thrown away, for 



98 FAIRY TALES 

if you had never a wedding robe to give her, she'd 
rather have you this minute than all the kings 
of Erin, or than all the other princes and kings 
and chieftains in the whole world. But you and 
your father and mother were kind to me on a 
wild winter's night, and I'd never see your 
mother's son without a wedding robe fit for the 
greatest princess that ever set nations to battle 
for her beauty. So go and pluck me a handful 
of wild forest flowers, and I'll weave out of thein 
a wedding robe with all the colors of the rain- 
bow, and one that will be as sweet and as fra- 
grant as the ripe, red lips of the princess herself." 

Fergus, with joyous heart, culled the flowers, 
and brought them to the little old woman. 

In the twinkling of an eye she wove with her 
little shuttle a wedding robe, with all the colors 
of the rainbow, as light as the fairy dew, as soft ! 
as the hand of the princess, as fragrant as herj 
little red mouth, and so small that it would pass 
through the eye of a needle. 

" Go now, Fergus," said she, " and may luck 
go with you; but, in the days of your greatness 
and of the glory which will come to you when 
you are wedded to the princess, be as kind, and 



THE HUNTSMAN'S SON 99 

have as open a lieart and as open a door for the 
poor as you had when you were only a poor 
huntsman's son." 

Fergus took the robe and went towards Tara. 
It was the last day of the fair, and all the con- 
tests were over, and the bards were about to 
chant the farewell strains to the memory of the 
great queen. But before the chief bard could 
ascend the mound, Fergus, attended by a troop 
of Fenian warriors on their steeds, galloped into 
the inclosure, and rode up in front of the queen's 
pavilion. Holding up the glancing and many- 
colored robe, he said : 

" O Queen and King of Erin ! I claim the 
princess for my bride. You, O king, have de- 
cided that I have won the prize in the contest of 
the bards ; that I have won the prize in the race 
against the white steed of the plains; it is for 
the princess to say if the robe which I give 
her will fit in the hollow of her small white 
hand." 

" Yes," said the king. " You are victor in the 
contests; let the princess declare if you have 
fulfilled the last condition." 

The princess took the robe from Fergus, closed 



100 FAIRY TALES 

her fingers over it, so that no vestige of it was 
seen. 

" Yes, O king ! " said she, " he has fulfilled the 
last condition ; but before ever he had fulfilled a 
single one of them, my heart went out to the 
comely champion of the Feni. I ',vas willing 
then, I am ready now, to become the bride of 
the huntsman-s son." 



THE FAIRY TREE OF DOOROS ^° 

ONCE upon a time the fainess of t.lie;west, 
goiug home from a htirliiig-mateh with 
the fairies of th'i lales, rest.k( 'in 'a^Goros 
Wood for three days and three nights. They 
spent the days feasting and the nights dancing 
in the light of the moon, and they danced so hard 
that they wore the shoes off their feet, and for a 
whole week after the leprechauns, the fairies' 
shoemakers, were working night and day mak- 
ing new ones, and the rip, rap, tap, tap of their 
little hammers were heard in all the hedgerows. 

The food on which the fairies feasted was 
little red berries, which were so like those that 
grow on the rowan tree that if you only looked 
at them you might mistake one for the other ; but 
the fairy berries grow only in fairyland, and are 
sweeter than any fruit that grows here in this 
world, and if an old man, bent and gray, ate one 
of them, he became young and active and strong 
again; and if an old woman, withered and 

101 



102 FAIRY TALES 

wrinkled, ate one of them, she became young and 
bright and fair ; and if a little maiden who was 
not handsome ate of them, she became lovelier 
than the flower of beauty. 

The fairies guarded the berries as carefully as 
a miser guards his gold, and whenever they were 
about to leave fa.3ry:;a,Tid they had to promise in 
the 'Presence '.of the kiiig and queen that they 
would not give a single berry to mortal man, nor 
allow one to fall upon the earth ; for if a single 
berry fell upon the earth a slender tree of many 
branches, bearing clusters of berries, would at 
once spring up, and mortal men might eat of 
them. 

But it chanced that this time they were in 
Dooros Wood they kept up the feasting and 
dancing so long, and were so full of joy because 
of their victory over the lake fairies, that one lit- 
tle, weeny fairy, not much bigger than my finger, 
lost his head, and dropped a berry in the wood. 

When the feast was ended the fairies went 
back to fairyland, and were at home for more 
than a week before they knew of the little fel- 
low's fault, and this is how they came to know 
of it. 



THE FAIRY TREE OP DOOROS 103 

A great wedding was about to come off, and 
the queen of the fairies sent six of her pages to 
Dooros Wood to catch fifty butterflies with 
golden spots on their purple wings, and fifty 
white without speck or spot, and fifty golden, 
yellow as the cowslip, to make a dress for her- 
self, and a hundred white, without speck or spot, 
to make dresses for the bride and bridesmaids. 

When the pages came near the wood they 
heard the most wonderful music, and the sky 
above them became quite dark, as if a cloud had 
shut out the sun. They looked up, and saw that 
the cloud was formed of bees, who in a great 
swarm were flying towards the wood and hum- 
ming as they flew. Seeing this they were sore 
afraid until they saw the bees settling on a single 
S-ee, and on looking closely at the tree they saw 
it was covered with fairy berries. 

The bees took no notice of the fairies, and so 
they were no longer afraid, and they hunted the 
butterflies until tbey had captured the full num- 
ber of various colors. Then they returned to 
fairyland, and they told the queen about the bees 
and the berries, and the queen told the king. 

The king was very angry, and he sent his 



104 FAIRY TALES 

heralds to the four corners of fairyland to sum- 
mon all his subjects to his presence that he 
might find out without delay who was the 
culprit. 

They all came except the little weeny fellow 
who dropped the berry, and of course everyone 
said that it was fear that kept him away, and 
that he must be guilty. 

/ The heralds were at once sent in search of 
him, and after a while they found him hiding in 
a cluster of ferns, and brought him before the 
king. 

The poor little fellow was so frightened that at 
first he could scarcely speak a word, but after a 
time he told how he never missed the berry until 
he had returned to fairyland, and that he was 
afraid to say anything to anyone about it. 

The king, who would hear of no excuse, 
sentenced the little culprit to be banished into 
the land of giants bej^ond the mountains, to stay 
there for ever and a day unless he could find a 
giant willing to go to Dooros Wood and guard 
the fairy tree. When the king had pronounced 
sentence everyone was very sorry, because the 
little fellow was a favorite with them all. No 



THE FAIRY TREE OF DOOROS 105 

fairy harper upon his harp, or piper upon his 
pipe, or fiddler upon his fiddle, could play half 
so sweetly as he could play upon an ivy leaf; 
and when they remembered all the pleasant 
moonlit nights on which they had danced to his 
music, and thought thut they should never hear 
or dance to it any more, their little hearts were 
filled with sorrow. The queen was as sad as 
any of her subjects, but the king's word should 
be obeyed. 

When the time came for the little fellow to set 
out into exile the queen sent her luad page to 
him with a handful of berries. Theso the queen 
said he was to offer to the giants, and say at the 
same time that the giant who wa^ willing to 
guard the tree could feast on berries just as 
sweet from morn till night. 

As the little fellow went on his a\ ay nearly all 
the fairies followed him to the borders of the 
land, and when they saw him go up the mountain 
towards the land of the giants, they all took off 
their little red caps and waved them until he 
was out of sight. 

On he went walking all day and night, and 
when the sun rose on the morrow he was on the 



106 FAIRY TALES 

top of the mountain, and he could see the land 
of the giants in the valley stretched far below 
him. Before beginning his descent he turned 
round for a last glimpse of fairyland; but he 
could see nothing, for a thick, dark cloud shut it 
out from view. He was very sad, and tired, and 
footsore, and as he struggled down the rough 
mountain side, he could not help thinking of the 
soft, green woods and mossy pathways of the 
pleasant land he had left behind him. 

When he awoke the ground was trembling, and 
a noise that sounded like thunder fell on his 
ears. He looked up and saw coming towards 
him a terrible giant, with one eye that burned 
like a live coal in the middle of his forehead ; his 
mouth stretched from ear to ear, his teeth were 
long and crooked, the skin of his face was as 
black as night, and his arms and chest were all 
covered with black, shaggy hair ; round his body 
was an iron band, and hanging from this by a 
chain was a great club with iron spikes. With 
one blow of this club he could break a rock into 
splinters, and fire could not burn him, and water 
could not drown him, and weapons could not 
wound him, and there was no way to kill him but 



r^ 




i_j 



'He was very sad, and tired,' 



Page 106 



THE FAIRY TREE OF DOOROS 107 

by giving liim three blows of his own club. And 
he was so bad-tempered that the other giants 
called him Sharvan the Surlj. When the giant 
spied the red cap of the little fairy he gave the 
shout that sounded like thunder. The poor 
fairy was shaking from head to foot. 

" What brought you here? " said the giant. 

" Please, Mr. Giant/' said the fairy, " the king 
of the fairies banished me here, and here I must 
stay for ever and a day, unless you come and 
guard the fairy tree in Dooros Wood." 

" Unless what? " roared the giant, and he gave 
the fairy a touch of his foot that sent the little 
fellow rolling down head over heels. 

The poor fairy lay as if he were dead, and then 
the giant, feeling sorry for what he had done, 
took him uj) gently between his finger and 
thumb. 

" Don't be frightened, little man," said he, 
" and now, tell me all about the tree." 

" It is the tree of the fairy berry that grows 
in the Wood of Dooros," said the fairy, " and I 
have some of the berries with me." 

" Oh, you have, have you? " said the giant. 
" Let me see them." 



108 FAIRY TALES 

The fairy took three berries from the pocket of 
his little green coat, and gave them to the giant. 

The giant looked at them for a second. He 
then swallowed the three together, and when he 
had done so, he felt so happy that he began to 
shout and dance for joy. 

"More, you little thief!" said he. "More,, 
you little what's ;four name? " said the giant. 

"Pinkeen, please, Mr. Giant," said the fairy, 
as he gave up all the berries. 

The giant shouted louder than before, and his 
shouts were heard by all the other giants, who 
came running towards him. 

When Sharyau saw them coming, he caught up 
Pinkeen, and put him in his pocket, that they 
shouldn't see him. 

" What were you shouting for? " said the 
giants. 

" Because," said Sharvan, " that rock there 
fell down on my big toe." 

" You did not shout like a man that was hurt," 
said they. 

"What is it to jou what way I shouted?" 
said he. 

" You might give a civil answer to a civil ques- 



THE FAIRY TREE OF DOOROS 109 

tion," said they; "but sure you were always 
Sliarvan the Surly; " and they went away. 

When the giants were out of sight, Sharvan 
took Pinkeen out of his wallet. 

" Some more berries, you little thief — I mean 
little Pinkeen," said he. 

" I have not any more," said Pinkeen ; " but if 
you will guard the tree in Dooros Wood you can 
feast on them from morn till night." 

" I'll guard every tree in the wood, if I may 
do that," said the giant. 

" You'll have to guard only one," said Pinkeen. 

" How am I to get to it? " said Sharvan. 

" You must first come with me towards fairy- 
land," said the fairy. 

" Very well," said Sharvan ; " let us go." And 
he took up the fairy and put him into his wallet, 
and before very long they were on the top of the 
mountain. Then the giant looked around 
towards the giants' land ; but a black cloud shut 
it out from view, while the sun was shining on 
the valley that lay before him, and he could see 
away in the distance the green woods and 
shining waters of fairyland. 

It was not long until he reached its borders, 



110 FAIRY TALES 

but when he tried to cross them his feet stuck to 
the ground and he could not move a step. Shar- 
van gave three loud shouts that were heard all 
over fairyland, and made the trees in the woods 
tremble, as if the wind of a storm was sweeping 
over them. 

" Oh, please, Mr. Giant, let me out," said 
Pinkeen.w Sharvan took out the little fellow, 
who, as soon as he saw he was on the borders 
of fairyland ran as fast as his legs could carry 
him, and before he had gone very far he met 
all the little fairies who, hearing the shouts of 
the giant, came trooping out from the ferns to 
see what was the matter. Pinkeen told them it 
was the giant who was to guard the tree, shout- 
ing because he was stuck fast on the borders, 
and they need have no fear of him. The fairies 
were so delighted to have Pinkeen back again, 
that they took him up on their shoulders and car- 
ried him to the king's palace, and all the harpers 
and pipers and fiddlers marched before him play- 
ing the most jocund music that w^as ever heard. 
The king and queen were on the lawn in front of 
the palace when the gay procession came up and 
halted before them. The queen's eyes glistened 



THE FAIRY TEEE OF DOOROS 111 

with pleasure when she saw the little favorite, 
and the king was also glad at heart, but he 
looked very grave as he said : 

" Why have you returned, sirrah? " 

Then Pinkeen told his majesty that he had 
brought with him a giant who was willing to 
guard the fairy tree. 

" And who is he and where is he? " asked the 
king. 

" The other giants called him Sharvan the 
Surly," said Pinkeen, " and he is stuck fast out- 
side the borders of fairyland." 

" It is well," said the king, " you are par- 
doned." 

When the fairies heard this they tossed their 
little red caps in the air, and cheered so loudly 
that a bee who was clinging to a rose-bud fell 
senseless to the ground. 

Then the king ordered one of his pages to take 
a handful of berries, and to go to Sharvan and 
show him the way to Dooros W^ood. The page, 
taking the berries w4th him, went off to Shar- 
van, whose roaring nearly frightened the poor 
little fellow to death. But as soon as the giant 
tasted the berries he got into good humor, and 



112 FAIRY TALES 

he asked the page if he could remove the spell of 
enchantment from him. 

" I can," said the page, " and I will if you 
promise me that you will not try to cross the 
borders of fairyland." 

" I promise that, with all my heart," said the 
giant. " But hurry on, my little man, for there 
are pins and needles in my legs." 

The page plucked a cowslip, and picking out 
the five little crimson spots in the cup of it, he 
flung one to the north, and one to the south, and 
one to the east, and one to the west, and one up 
into the sky, and the spell was broken, and the 
giant's limbs were free. Then Sharvan and the 
fairy page set off for Dooros Wood, and it was 
not long until they came within view of the fairy 
tree. When Sharvan saw the berries glistening 
in the sun, he gave a shout so loud and strong 
that the wind of it blew the little fairy back to 
fairyland. But he had to return to the wood 
to tell the giant that he was to stay all day at 
the foot of the tree ready to do battle with any- 
one who might come to steal the berries, and that 
during the night he was to sleep amongst the 
branches. 



THE FAIRY TREE OF DOOROS 113 

" All right/' said the giant, who could scarcely 
speak, as his mouth was full of berries. 

Well, the fame of the fairy-tree spread far and 
wide, and every day some adventurer came to try 
if he could carry away some of the berries; but 
the giant, true to his word, was always on the 
watch, and not a single day passed on which he 
did not fight and slay a daring champion, and 
the giant never received a wound, for fire could 
not burn him, nor water drown him, nor weapon 
wound him. 

Now, at this time, when Sharvan was keeping 
watch and ward over the tree, a cruel king was 
reigning over the lands that looked towards the 
rising sun. He had slain the rightful king by 
foul means, and his subjects, loving their mur- 
dered sovereign, hated the usurper ; but much as 
they hated him they feared him more, for he was 
brave and masterful, and he was armed with a 
helmet and shield Avhich no weapon made by 
mortal hands could pierce, and he carried always 
with him two javelins that never missed their 
mark, and were so fatal that they were called 
" the shafts of death." The murdered king had 
two children — a boy, whose name was Niall, and 



114 FAIRY TALES 

a girl, who was called Rosaleen — that is, little 
Rose ; but no rose that ever bloomed was half as 
sweet or fresh or fair as she. Cruel as the tyrant 
king was, he was too afraid of the people to kill 
the children. He sent the boy adrift on the sea in 
an open boat, hoping the waves would swallow 
it; and he got an old witch to cast the spell of 
deformity over Rosaleen, and under the spell her 
beauty faded, until at last she became so ugly | 
and wasted that scarcely anyone would speak to 
her. And, shunned by everyone, she spent her 
days in the out-houses with the cattle, and every 
night she cried herself to sleep. 

One day, when she was very lonely, a little 
robin came to pick the crumbs that had fallen 
about her feet. He appeared so tame that she 
offered him the bread from her hand, and when 
he took it she cried with joy at finding that there 
was one living thing that did not shun her. 
After this the robin came every day, and he sang 
so sweetly for her that she almost forgot her 
loneliness and misery. But once while the robin 
was -with her the tyrant king's daughter, wlio 
was very beautiful, passed with her maids of 
honor, and, seeing Rosaleen, the princess said: 



THE FAIKY TREE OF DOOROS 115 

" Oil, there is that horrid ugly thing." 

The maids laughed and giggled, and said they 
had never seen such a fright. 

Poor Rosaleen felt as if her heart would break, 
and when the princess and her maids were out of 
sight she almost cried her eyes out. When the 
robin saw her crying he perched on her shoulder 
and rubbed his little head against her neck and 
chirruped softly in her ear, and Rosaleen was 
comforted, for she felt she had at least one friend 
in the world, although it was only a little robin. 
But the robin could do more for her than she 
could dream of. He heard the remark made by 
the princess, and he saw Rosaleen's tears, and 
he knew now why she was shunned by every- 
body, and why she was so unhappy. And that 
very evening he flew off to Dooros Wood, and 
called on a cousin of his and told him all about 
Rosaleen. 

" And you want some of the fairy berries, I 
suppose," said his cousin, Robin of the Wood. 

" I do," said Rosaleen's little friend. 

" Ah," said Robin of the Wood, " times have 
changed since you were here last. The tree is 
L guarded now all the day long by a surly giant. 



116 FAIRY TALES 

He sleeps in the brandies during the night, and 
he breathes upon them and around them every 
morning, and his breath is poison to bird and 
bee. There is only one chance open, and if you 
try that it may cost you your life." 

" Then tell me what it is, for I would give a 
hundred lives for Eosaleen," said her own little 
robin. 

" Well," said Robin of the Wood, " every day 
a champion comes to battle with the giant, and 
the giant, before he begins the fight, puts a 
branch of berries in the iron belt that's around 
his waist, so that when he feels tired or thirsty 
he can refresh himself, and there is just a bare 
chance, while he is fighting, of picking one of the 
berries from the branch ; but if his breath fall on 
you it is certain death." 

" I will take the chance," said Rosaleen's 
robin. 

" Very well," said the other. And the two 
birds flew through the wood until they came 
within sight of the fairy tree. The giant was 
lying stretched at the foot of it, eating the ber- 
ries; but it was not long until a warrior came, 
who challenged him to battle. The giant 



THE FAIRY TREE OF DOOROS 117 

jumped up, and plucking a branch from the tree 
stuck it in his belt, and swinging his iron club 
above his head strode towards the warrior, and 
the fight began. The robin perched on a tree 
behind the giant, and watched and waited for his 
chance; but it was a long time coming, for the 
berries were in front of the giant's belt. At last 
the giant, with one great blow, struck the war- 
rior down, but as he did so he stumbled and fell 
upon him, and before he had time to recover him- 
self the little robin darted towards him like a 
flash and picked off one of the berries, and then, 
as fast as wings could carry him, he flew towards 
home, and on his way he passed over a troop of 
warriors on snow-white steeds. All the horse- 
men except one wore silver helmets and shining 
mantles of green silk, fastened by brooches of 
red gold, but the chief, who rode at the head of 
the troop, wore a golden helmet, and his mantle 
was of yellow silk, and he looked by far the 
noblest of them all. When the robin had left 
the horsemen far behind him he spied Rosaleen 
sitting outside the palace gates bemoaning her 
fate. The robin perched upon her shoulder, and 
almost before she knew he was there he put the 



118 FAIRY TALES 

berry between her lips, and the taste was so deli- 
cious that Rosaleen ate it at once, and that very 
moment the witch's withering spell passed away 
from her, and she became as lovely as the flower 
of beauty. Just then the warriors on the snow- 
white steeds came up, and the chief with the 
mantle of yellow silk and the golden helmet 
leaped from his horse, and bending his knee be- 
fore her, said : 

" Fairest of all fair maidens, you are surely 
the daughter of the king of these realms, even 
though you are without the palace gates, unat- 
tended, and wear not rojal robes. I am the 
Prince of the Sunny Valleys." 

" Daughter of a king I am," said Rosaleen, 
" but not of the king who rules these realms." 

And saying this she fled, leaving the prince 
wondering who she could be. The prince then 
ordered his trumpeters to give notice of his pres- 
ence outside the palace, and in a few moments 
the king and all his nobles came out to greet the 
prince and his warriors, and give them welcome. 
That night a great feast was spread in the ban- 
quet hall, and the Prince of the Sunny Valleys 
sat by the king, and beside the prince sat the 



THE FAIRY TREE OP DOOROS 119 

king's beautiful daughter, and then in due order 
sat the nobles of the court and the warriors 
who had come with the prince, and on the wall 
behind each noble and warrior his shield and 
helmet were suspended, flashing radiance 
through the room. During the feast the prince 
spoke most graciously to the lovely lady at his 
side, but all the time he was thinking of the un- 
known beauty he had met outside the palace 
gates, and his heart longed for another glimpse 
of her. When the feast was ended, and the 
jeweled drinking-cups had gone merrily around 
the table, the bards sang, to the accompaniment 
of harps, the " Courtship of the Lady Eimer,-' 
and as they pictured her radiant beauty outshin- 
ing that of all her maidens, the prince thought 
that fair as Lady Eimer was there was one still 
fairer. 

When the feast was ended the king asked the 
prince what brought him into his realms. 

" I come," said the prince, " to look for a bride, 
for it was foretold to me in my own country that 
here only I should find the lady who is destined 
to share my throne, and fame reported that in 
your kingdom are to be found the loveliest maid- 



120 FAIKY TALES 

ens in all the world, and I can well believe that," 
added the prince, " after what I have seen to- 
day." 

When the king's daughter heard this she hung 
down her head and blushed like a rose, for, of 
course, she thought the prince was alluding only 
to herself, as she did not know that he had seen 
Rosaleen, and she had not heard of the restora- 
tion of her beauty. 

Before another word could be spoken a great 
noise and the clang of arms were heard outside 
the palace. The king and his guests started 
from their seats and drew their swords, and the 
bards raised the song of battle; but their voices 
were stilled and their harps silenced when they 
saw at the threshold of the banquet hall a battle 
chami)ion, in whose face they recognized the 
features of their murdered king. 

" 'Tis Niall come back to claim his father's 
throne," said the chief bard. " Long live 
Mall!" 

" Long live Niall ! " answered all the others. 

The king, white Avith rage and amazement, 
turned to the chiefs and nobles of his court, and 
cried out : 



THE FAIRY TEEE OP DOOROS 121 

" Is there none loyal enough to drive that in- 
truder from the banquet hall? " 

But no one stirred, and no answer was given. 
Then the king rushed forward alone, but before 
he could reach the spot where Niall Avas stand- 
ing he was seized by a dozen chiefs and at once 
disarmed. 

During this scene the king's daughter had fled 
frightened ; but Rosaleen, attracted by the noise, 
and hearing her brother's name and the cheers 
which greeted it, had entered the banquet hall 
unperceived by anj^one. But when her presence 
was discovered every eye was dazzled with her 
beauty. Niall looked at her for a second, won- 
dering if the radiant maiden before him could 
be the little sister he had been separated from 
for so many years. In another second she was 
clasped in his arms. 

Then the feast was spread again, and Niall 
told the story of his adventures; and when the 
Prince of the Sunny Valley asked for the hand 
of Rosaleen, Niall told his lovely sister to speak 
for herself. With downcast eyes and smiling 
lips she said, " yes," and that very day was 
the gayest and brightest wedding that ever 



122 FAIRY TALES 

took place, and Rosaleen became the prince's 
bride. 

In her happiness she did not forget the little 
robin, who was her friend in sorrow. She took 
him home with her to Sunny Valleys, and every 
day she fed him with her own hands, and every 
day he sang for her the sweetest songs that were 
ever heard in lady's bower. 



A 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT. 

LONG, long time ago, in a valley far away, 
the giant Trencoss lived in a great castle, 
surrounded by trees that were always 
green. The castle had a hundred doors, and 
every door was guarded by a huge, shaggy hound, 
with tongue of fire and claws of iron, who tore 
to pieces anyone who went to the castle without 
the giant's leave. Trencoss had made war on the 
King of the Torrents, and, having killed the king, 
and slain his people, and burned his palace, he 
carried off his only daughter, the Princess 
Eileen, to the castle in the valley. Here he pro- 
vided her with beautiful rooms, and appointed a 
hundred dwarfs, dressed in blue and yellow satin, 
to wait upon her, and harpers to play sweet 
music for her, and he gave her diamonds without 
number, brighter than the sun ; but he would not 
allow her to go outside the castle, and told her if 
she went one step beyond its doors, the hounds, 

with tongues of fire and claws of iron, would 

123 



124 FAIEY TALES 

tear her to pieces. A week after her arrival, war 
broke out between the giant and the King of the 
Islands, and before he set out for battle, the giant 
sent for the princess, and informed her that on 
his return he would make her his wdfe. When 
the princess heard this she began to cry, for she 
would rather die than marry the giant who had 
slain her father. 

" Crying will only spoil your bright eyes, my 
little princess,'' said Trencoss, " and you will 
have to marry me whether vou like it or no," 

He then bade her go back to her room, and he 
ordered the dwarfs to give her everything she 
asked for while he was away, and the harpers 
to play the sweetest music for her. When the 
princess gained her room she cried as if her 
heart would break. The long day passed slowly, 
and the night came, but brought no sleep to 
Eileen, and in the gray light of the morning she 
rose and opened the window, and looked about in 
every direction to see if there were any chance of 
escape. But the window was ever so high above 
the ground, and below were the hungry and ever 
watchful hounds. \<\\h a heavy heart she was 
about to close the window when she thought she 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT 125 

saw the branches of the tree that was nearest 
to it moving. She looked again, and she saw 
a little white cat creeping along one of the 
branches. 

" Mew ! '' cried the cat. 

" Poor little pussy/' said the princess. " Come 
to me, pussy." 

" Stand back from the window," said the cat, 
" and I will." 

The princess stepped back, and the little 
white cat jumped into the room. The princess 
took the little cat on her lap and stroked him 
with her hand, and the cat raised up its back and 
began to purr. 

" Where do you come from, and what is your 
name? " asked the princess. 

" No matter where I come from or what's my 
name," said the cat. " I am a friend of yours, 
and I come to help you? " 

" I never wanted help worse," said the 
princess. 

" I know that," said the cat; " and now listen 
to me. When the giant comes back from battle 
and asks you to marry him, say to him you will 
marry him." 



126 FAIRY TALES 

" But I will never marry him," said tlie 
princess. 

" Do what I tell you," said the cat. " When 
he asks you to marry him, say to him you 
will if his dwarfs will wind for you three balls 
from the fairy dew that lies on the bushes on a 
misty morning as big as these," said the cat, 
putting his right forefoot into his ear and taking 
out three balls — one yellow, one red, and one 
blue. 

" They are very small," said the prin- 
cess. '^ They are not much bigger than peas, 
and the dwarfs will not be long at their 
work." 

"Won't they," said the cat. "It will take 
them a month and a day to make one, so that it 
will take three months and three days before the 
balls are wound; but the giant, like you, will 
think they can be made in a few days, and so 
he will readily promise to do what you ask. He 
will soon find out his mistake, but he will keep 
his word, and will not press you to marry him 
until the balls are wound." 

"When will the giant come back?" asked 
Eileen. 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT 127 

" He will return to-morrow afternoon," said 
the cat. 

"Will you stay with me until then?" said 
the princess. " I am very lonely." 

" I cannot stay," said the cat. " I have to go 
away to my palace on the island on which no 
man ever placed his foot, and where no man but 
one shall ever come." 

'' And where is that island? " asked the 
princess, " and who is the man? " 

" The island is in the far-off seas where vessel 
never sailed; the man you will see before many 
days are over; and if all goes well, he will one 
day slay the giant Trencoss, and free you from 
his power." 

" Ah ! " sighed the princess, " that can never 
be, for no weapon can wound the hundred hounds 
that guard the castle, and no sword can kill the 
giant Trencoss." 

" There is a sword that will kill him," said 
the cat ; " but I must go now. Kemember what 
you are to say to the giant when he comes home, 
and every morning watch the tree on which you 
saw me, and if you see in the branches anyone 
you like better than yourself," said the cat, wink- 



128 FAIRY TALES 

ing at the princess, " tlirow him these three balls 
and leave the rest to me; but take care not to 
speak a single word to him, for if you do all will 
be lost." 

" Shall I ever see you again? " asked the 
princess. 

" Time will tell/' answered the cat, and, with- 
out saying so much as good-by, he jumped 
through the window on to the tree, and in a sec- 
ond was out of sight. 

The morrow afternoon came, and the giant 
Trencoss returned from battle. Eileen knew of 
his coming by the furious barking of the hounds, 
and her heart sank, for she knew that in a few 
moments she would be summoned to his presence. 
Indeed, he had hardly entered the castle when he 
sent for her, and told her to get ready for the 
wedding. The princess tried to look cheerful, as 
she answered: 

" I will be ready as soon as you wish ; but you 
must first promise me something." 

" Ask anything you like, little princess," said 
Trencoss. 

" Well, then," said Eileen, " before I marry 
you, you must make your dwarfs wind three balls 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT 129 

as big as these from the fairy dew that lies on 
the bushes on a misty morning in summer."' 

"Is that all?" said Treneoss, laughing. "I 
shall give the dwarfs orders at once, and by this 
time to-morrow the balls will be wound, and our 
wedding can take place in the evening." 

" And will you leave me to myself until then? " 

" I will," said Treneoss. 

" On your honor as a giant? " said Eileen. 

" On my honor as a giant," replied Treneoss. 

The princess returned to her rooms, and the 
giant summoned all his dwarfs, and he ordered 
them to go forth in the dawning of the morn and 
to gather all the fairy dew lying on the bushes, 
and to wind tliree balls — one yellow, one red, and 
one blue. The next morning, and the next, and 
the next,the dwarfs went out into the fields and 
searched all the hedgerows, but they could gather 
only as much fairy dew as would make a thread 
as long as a wee girl's eyelash ; and so they had 
to go out morning after morning, and the giant 
fumed and threatened, but all to no purpose. He 
was very angry with the princess, and he was 
vexed with himself that she was so much clev- 
erer than he was, and, moreover, he saw now that 



130 FAIRY TALES 

the wedding could not take place as soon as he 
expected. 

When the little white cat went away from the 
castle he ran as fast as he could up hill and 
down dale, and never stopped until he came to 
the Prince of the Silver Eiver. The prince was 
alone, and very sad and sorrowful he was, for he 
was thinking of the Princess Eileen, and wonder- 
ing where she could be. 

" Mew," said the cat, as he sprang softly into 
the room; but the prince did not heed him. 
" Mew," again said the cat; but again the prince 
did not heed him. " Mew," said the cat the third 
time, and he jumped up on the prince's knee. 

" Where do you come from, and what do you 
want? " asked the prince. 

" I come from where you would like to be," 
said the cat. 

" And where is that? " said the prince. 

" Oh, where is that, indeed ! as if I didn't know 
what you are thinking of, and of whom you are 
thinking," said the cat; "and it would be far 
better for you to try and save her." 

" I would give my life a thousand times over 
for her," said the prince. 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT 131 

" For whom? " said the cat, with a wink. " I 
named no name, your highness," said he. 

" You know very well who she is," said the 
prince, " if you knew what I was thinking of ; 
but do you know Vv'here she is? " 

" She is in danger," said the cat. " She is in 
the castle of the giant Trencoss, in the valley 
beyond the mountains." 

" I will set out there at once," said the prince, 
" and I will challenge the giant to battle, and 
will slay him." 

" Easier said than done," said the cat. " There 
is no sword made by the hands of man can kill 
him, and even if you could kill him, his hundred 
hounds, with tongues of fire and claws of iron, 
would tear you to pieces." 

'' Then, what am I to do? " asked the prince. 

" Be said by me," said the cat. " Go to the 
wood that surrounds the giant's castle, and climb 
the high tree that's nearest to the window that 
looks towards the sunset, and shake the branches, 
and you will see what you will see. Then hold 
out your hat with the silver plumes, and three 
balls — one yellow, one red, and one blue — will be 
thrown into it. And then come back here as fast 



132 FAIRY TALES 

as you can ; but speak no word, for if you utter a 
single word the liounds will hear you, and you 
shall be torn to pieces." 

Well, the prince set off at once, and after two 
days' journey he came to the wood around the 
castle, and he climbed the tree that was nearest 
to the window that looked towards the sunset, and 
he shook the branches. As soon as he did so, the 
window opened and he saw the Princess Eileen, 
looking lovelier than ever. He was going to call 
out her name, but she placed her fingers on her 
lips, and he remembered what the cat had told 
him, that he was to speak no word. In silence he 
held out the hat with the silver plumes, and the 
princess threw into it the three balls, one after 
another, and, blowing him a kiss, she shut the 
window. And well it was she did so, for at that 
very moment she heard the voice of the giant, 
who was coming back from hunting. 

The prince waited until the giant had entered 
the castle before he descended the tree. He set 
off as fast as he could. He went up hill and 
down dale, and never stopped until he arrived 
at his own palace, and there waiting for him was 
the little white eat. 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT 133 

" Have you brought the three balls? " said he. 

" I have," said the prince. 

" Then follow me," said the cat. 

On they went until they left the palace far 
behind and came to the edge of the sea. 

" Now," said the cat, " unravel a thread of the 
red ball, hold the thread in your right hand, 
drop the ball into the water, and you shall see 
what you shall see." 

The prince did as he was told, and the ball 
floated out to sea, unraveling as it went, and it 
went on until it was out of sight. 

" Pull now," said the cat. 

The prince pulled, and, as he did, he saw far 
away something on the sea shining like silver. 
It came nearer and nearer, and he saw it was 
a little silver boat. At last it touched the 
strand. 

" Now," said the cat, " step into this boat and 
it will bear you to the palace on the island on 
which no man has ever placed his foot — the 
island in the unknown seas that were never 
sailed by vessels made of human hands. In that 
palace there is a sword with a diamond hilt, and 
by that sword alone the giant Trencoss can be 



134 FAIRY TALES 

killed. There also are a hundred cakes, and it 
is only on eating these the hundred hounds can 
die. But mind what I say to you : if you eat or 
drink until you reach the palace of the little cat 
in the island in the unknown seas, you will for- 
get the Princess Eileen." 

" I will forget myself first," said the prince, as 
he stepped into the silver boat, which floated 
away so quickly that it was soon out of sight of 
land. 

The day passed and the night fell, and the 
stars shone down upon the waters, but the boat 
never stopped. On she went for two whole days 
and nights, and on the third morning the prince 
saw an island in the distance, and very glad he 
was; for he thought it was his journey's end, and 
he was almost fainting with thirst and hunger. 
But the day passed and the island was still be- 
fore him. 

At long last, on the following day, he saw by 
the first ligat of the morning that he was quite 
close to it, and that trees laden with fruit of 
every kind were bending down over the water. 
The boat sailed round and round the island, go- 
ing closer and closer every round, until, at last. 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT 135 

the drooping branches almost touched it. The 
sight of the fruit within his reach made the 
prince hungrier and thirstier than he was before, 
and forgetting his promise to the little cat — ^not 
to eat anything until he entered the palace in 
the unknown seas — he caught one of the 
branches, and, in a moment, was in the tree eat- 
ing the delicious fruit. While he was doing so 
the boat floated out to sea and soon was lost to 
sight; but the prince, having eaten, forgot all 
about it, and, worse still, forgot all about the 
princess in the giant's castle. When he had 
eaten enough he descended the tree, and, turning 
his back on the sea, set out straight before him. 
He had not gone far when he heard the sound of 
music, and soon after he saw a number of maid- 
ens playing on silver harps coming towards him. 
When they saw him they ceased playing, and 
cried out : 

" Welcome ! welcome ! Prince of the Silver 
River, welcome to the island of fruits and 
flowers. Our king and queen saw you coming 
over the sea, and they sent us to bring you to the 
palace." 

The prince went with them, and at the palace 



136 FAIRY TALES 

gates the king and queen and their daughter 
Kathleen received him, and gave him welcome. 
He hardly saw the king and queen, for his eyes 
were fixed on the Princess Kathleen, who looked 
more beautiful than a flower. He thought he 
had never seen anyone so lovely, for, of course, 
he had forgotten all about poor Eileen pining 
away in her castle prison in the lonely valley. 
When the king and queen had given welcome to 
the prince a great feast was spread, and all the 
lords and ladies of the court sat down to it, and 
the prince sat between the queen and the Princess 
Kathleen, and long before the feast was finished 
he was over head and ears in love with her. 
When the feast was ended the queen ordered the 
ballroom to be made ready, and when night fell 
the dancing began, and was kept up until the 
morning star, and the prince danced all night 
with the princess, falling deeper and deeper in 
love with her every minute. Between dancing 
by night and feasting by day weeks went by. All 
the time poor Eileen in the giant's castle was 
counting the hours, and all this time the dwarfs 
were winding the balls, and a ball and a half 
were already wound. At last the prince asked 



I 




V5 



At the sight of him the prince remembered 

eyery thing" .... Page 137 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT 137 

the king- and queen for their daughter in mar- 
riage, and they were delighted to be able to say 
yes, and the day was fixed for the wedding. But 
on the evening before the day on which it was to 
take place the prince was in his room, getting 
ready for a dance, when he felt something rub- 
bing against his leg, and, looking down, who 
should he see but the little white cat. At 
the sight of him the prince remembered every- 
thing, and sad and sorry he was when he 
thought of Eileen watching and waiting and 
counting the days until he returned to save 
her. But he was very fond of the Princess 
Kathleen, and so he did not know what 
to do. 

" You can't do anything to-night," said the cat, 
for he knew what the prince was thinking of, 
" but when morning comes go down to the sea, 
and look not to the right or the left, and let no 
living thing touch you, for if you do you shall 
never leave the island. Drop the second ball 
into the water, as you did the first, and when the 
boat comes step in at once. Then you may look 
behind you, and you shall see what you shall see, 
and you'll know which you love best, the Princess 



138 FAIRY TALES 

Eileen or the Princess Kathleen, and you can 
either go or stay." 

The prince didn't sleep a wink that night, and 
at the first glimpse of the morning he stole from 
the palace. When he reached the sea he threw 
out the ball, and when it had floated out of sight, 
he saw the little boat sparkling on the horizon 
like a ncAvly-risen star. The prince had scarcely 
passed through the palace doors when he was 
missed, and the king and queen and the princess, 
and all the lords and ladies of the court, went in 
search of him, taking the quickest way to the sea. 
While the maidens with the silver harps played 
sweetest music, the princess, whose voice was 
sweeter than any music, called on the prince by 
his name, and so moved his heart that he was 
about to look behind, when he remembered how 
the cat had told him he should not do so until he 
was in the boat. Just as it touched the shore the 
princess put out her hand and almost caught the 
prince's arm, but he stepped into the boat in 
time to save himself, and it sped away like a re- 
ceding wave. A loud scream caused the prince 
to look round suddenly, and when he did he saw 
no sign of king or queen, or princess, or lords 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT 139 

or ladies, but only big green serpents, with red 
eyes and tongues, that hissed out fire and poison 
as they writhed in a hundred horrible coils. 

The prince, having escaped from the enchanted 
island, sailed away for three days and three 
nights, and every night he hoped the coming 
morning would show him the island he was in 
search of. He was faint with hunger and be- 
ginning to despair, when on the fourth morning 
he saw in the distance an island that, in the first 
rays of the sun, gleamed like fire. On coming 
closer to it he saw that it was clad with trees, so 
covered with bright red berries that hardly a leaf 
was to be seen. Soon the boat was almost within 
a stone's cast of the island, and it began to sail 
round and round until it w^as well under the 
bending branches. The scent of the berries was 
so sweet that it sharpened the prince's hunger, 
and he longed to pluck them; but, remembering 
what had happened to him on the enchanted 
island, he w^as afraid to touch them. But the 
boat kept on sailing round and round, and at 
last a great wind rose from the sea and shook 
the branches, and the bright, sweet berries fell 
into the boat until it was filled with them, and 






140 FAIRY TALES 

they fell upon the prince's hands, and he took up 
some to look at them, and as he looked the desire 
to eat them grew stronger, and he said to himself 
it would be no harm to taste one; but when he 
tasted it the flavor was so delicious he swallowed 
it, and, of course, at once he forgot all about 
Eileen, and the boat drifted away from him and 
left him standing in the water. 

He climbed on to the island, and ha"sdng eaten 
enough of the berries, he set out to see what 
might be before him, and it was not long until he 
heard a great noise, and a huge iron ball knocked 
down one of the trees in front of him, and before 
he knew where he was a hundred giants came 
running after it. When they saw the prince they 
turned towards him, and one of them caught him 
up in his hand and held him up that all might see 
him. The prince was nearly squeezed to death, 
and seeing this the giant put him on the ground 
again. 

"Who are you, my little man?" asked the 
giant. 

" I am a prince," replied the prince. 

" Oh, you are a prince, are you? " said the 
giant. " And what are you good for? " said he. 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT Un 

The prince did not know, for nobody had 
asked him that question before. 

" I know what he's good for," said an okl 
giantess, with one eye in her forehead and one in 
her chin. " I know what he's good for. He's 
good to eat." 

When the giants heard this they laughed so 
loud that the prince was frightened almost to 
death. 

" Why," said one, " he wouldn't make a mouth- 
ful." "'^ 

" Oh, leave him to me," said the giantess, 
" and I'll fatten him up ; and when he is cooked 
and dressed he will be a nice dainty dish for the 
king." 

The giants, on this, gave the prince into the 
hands of the old giantess. She took him home 
with her to the kitchen, and fed him on sugar and 
spice and all things nice, so that he should be a 
sweet morsel for the king of the giants when he 
returned to the island. The poor prince would 
not eat anything at first, but the giantess held 
him over the fire until his feet were scorched, and 
then he said to himself it was better to eat than 
to be burnt alive. 



142 FAIRY TALES 

Well, day after day passed, and the prince 
grew sadder and sadder, thinking that he would 
soon be cooked and dressed for the king ; but sad 
as the prince was, he was not half as sad as the 
Princess Eileen in the giant's castle, watching 
and waiting for the prince to return and save her. 

And the dwarfs had wound two balls, and 
were winding a third. 

At last the prince heard from the old giantess 
that the king of the giants was to return on the 
following day, and she said to him : 

" As this is the last night you have to live, tell 
me if you wish for anything, for if you do your 
wish will be granted." 

" I don't wish for anything," said the prince, 
whose heart was dead within him. 

"Well, I'll come back again," said the 
giantess, and she went away. 

The prince sat down in a corner, thinking and 
thinking, until he heard close to his ear a sound 
like " purr, purr ! " He looked around, and there 
before him was the little white cat. 

" I ought not to come to you," said the cat ; 
" but, indeed, it is not for your sake I come. I 
come for the sake of the Princess Eileen. Of 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT 1-13 

course, you forgot all about her, and, of course, 
she is always thinking of you. It's always the 
way— 

" ' Favored lovers may forget. 
Slighted lovers never yet. '" 

The prince blushed with shame when he heard 
the name of the princess. 

" 'Tis you that ought to blush," said the cat; 
"but listen to me now, and remember, if you 
don't obey my directions this time you'll never 
see me again, and you'll never set your eyes on 
the Princess Eileen. When the old giantess 
comes back tell her you wish, when the morning 
comes, to go down to the sea to look at it for the 
last time. Wlien you reach the sea you will 
know what to do. But I must go now, as 
I hear the giantess coming." And the cat 
jumped out of the window and disappeared. 

" Well," said the giantess, when she came in, 
" is there anything you wish? " 

" Is it true I must die to-morrow? " asked the 
prince. 

" It is." 

" Then," said he, " I should like to go down to 
the sea to look at it for the last time." 



h 



144 FAIRY TALES 

" You may do tliat/' said the giantess, " if you 
get up early." 

" I'll be up with the lark in the light of the 
morning/' said the prince. 

" Very well," said the giantess, and, saying 
" good night," she went away. 

The prince thought the night would never 
pass, but at last it faded away before the gray 
light of the dawn, and he sped down to the sea. 
He threw out thg third ball, and before long he 
saw the little boat coming towards him swifter 
than the wind. He threw himself into it the mo- 
ment it touched the shore. Swifter than the 
wind it bore him out to sea, and before he had 
time to look behind him the island of the giantess 
was like a faint red speck in the distance. The 
day passed and the night fell, and the stars 
looked down, and the boat sailed on, and just as 
the sun rose above the sea it pushed its silver 
prow on the golden strand of an island greener 
than the leaves in summer. The prince jumped 
out, and Avent on and on until he entered a pleas- 
ant valley, at the head of which he saw a palace 
white as snow. 

As he approached the central door it opened 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT 145 

for him. On entering the hall he passed into 
several rooms without meeting with anyone; 
but, when he reached the principal apartment, he 
found himself in a circular room, in which were 
a thousand pillars, and every pillar was of 
marble, and on every pillar save one, which stood 
in the centre of the room, was a little white cat 
with black eyes. Ranged round the wall, from 
one door-jamb to the other, were three rows of 
precious jewels. The first was a row of brooches 
of gold and silver, with their pins fixed in the 
wall and their heads outwards; the second a row 
of torques of gold and silver ; and the third a row 
of great swords, with hilts of gold and silver. 
And on many tables was food of all kinds, and 
drinking horns filled with foaming ale.^^ 

While the prince was looking about him the 
cats kept on jumping from pillar to pillar; but 
seeing that none of them jumped on to the pillar 
in the centre of the room, he began to wonder 
why this was so, when, all of a sudden, and be- 
fore he could guess how it came about, there 
right before him on the center pillar was the lit- 
tle white cat. 

" Don't you know me? " said he. 



146 FAIEY TALES 

" I do/' said the prince. 

" All, but you don't know who I am. This is 
the palace of the Little White Cat, and I am the 
King of the Cats. But you must be hungry, and 
the feast is spread." 

Well, when the feast was ended, the King of the 
Cats called for the sword that would kill the 
giant Trencoss, and the hundred cakes for the 
hundred watch-dogs. 

The cats brought the sword and the cakes and 
laid them before the king. 

"Now," said the king, "take these; you have 
no time to lose. To-morrow the dwarfs will 
wind the last ball, and to-morrow the giant will 
claim the princess for his bride. So you should 
go at once ; but before you go take this from me 
to your little girl." 

And the king gave him a brooch lovelier than 
any on the palace walls. 

The king and the prince, followed by the cats, 
went down to the strand, and vviien the prince 
stepped into the boat all the cats " mewed " three 
times for good luck, and the prince waved his 
hat three times, and the little boat sped over the 
waters all through the night as brightly and as 



THE LITTLE WHITE CAT 147 

swiftly as a shooting star. In the first flush of 
the morning it touched the strand. The prince 
jumped out and went on and on, up hill and 
down dale, until he came to the giant's castle. 
When the hounds saw him they barked furiously, 
and bounded towards him to tear him to pieces. 
The prince flung the cakes to them, and as each 
hound swallowed his cake he fell dead. The 
prince then struck his shield three times with the 
sword which he had brought from the palace of 
the little white cat. 

When the giant heard the sound he cried out : 

" Who comes to challenge me on my wedding- 
day? " 

The dwarfs went out to see, and, returning, 
told him it was a prince who challenged him to 
battle. 

The giant, foaming with rage, seized his 
heaviest iron club, and rushed out to the fight. 
The fight lasted the whole day, and when the 
sun went down the giant said: 

".We have had enough of fighting for the day. 
We can begin at sunrise to-morrow." 

"Not so," said the prince. "Now or never; 
win or die." 



148 FAIRY TALES 

" Tlien take this," cried the giant, as he aimed 
a blow with all his force at the prince's head; 
but the prince, darting forward like a flash of 
lightning, drove his sword into the giant's heart, 
and, with a groan, he fell over the bodies of the 
poisoned hounds. 

When the dwarfs saw the giant dead they be- 
gan to cry and tear their hair. But the prince 
told them they had nothing to fear, and he bade 
them go and tell the Princess Eileen he wished 
to speak with her. But the princess had watched 
the battle from her window, and when she saw 
the giant fall she rushed out to greet the prince, 
and that very night he and she and all the 
dwarfs and harpers set out for the Palace of 
the Silver River, which they reached the next 
morning, and from that day to this there never 
has been a gayer wedding than the wedding of 
the Prince of the Silver River and the Princess 
Eileen ; and though she had diamonds and pearls 
to spare, the only jewel she wore on her w^edding- 
day was the brooch which the prince had brought 
her from the Palace of the Little White Cat in 
the far-off seas. 



PRINCESS FINOLA AND THE DWARF 

ALONG, long time ago there lived in a little 
hut in the midst of a bare, brown, lonely 
moor an old woman and a young girl. The 
old woman was withered, sour-tempered, and 
dumb. The young girl was as sweet and as fresh 
as an opening rosebud, and her voice was as 
musical as the whisper of a stream in the woods 
in the hot days of summer. The little hut, made 
of branches woven closely together, Avas shaped 
like a beehive. In the center of the hut a fire 
burned night and day from year's end to year's 
end, thougli it was never touched or tended by 
human hand. In the cold days and nights of 
winter it gave out light and heat that made the 
hut cozy and warm, but in the summer nights 
and days it gave out light only. With their 
heads to the wall of the hut and their feet 
towards the fire were two sleeping-couches — one 
of plain woodwork, in which slept the old 
woman ; the other was Finola's. It was of bog- 

149 



150 FAIKY TALES 

oak, polished as a looking-glass, and on it were 
carved flowers and birds of all kinds, that 
gleamed and shone in the light of the fire. This 
couch was fit for a princess, and a princess Fi- 
nola was, though she did not know it herself. 

Outside the hut the bare, brown, lonely moor 
stretched for miles on every side, but towards 
the east it was bounded by a range of mountains 
that looked to Finola blue in the daytime, but 
which put on a hundred changing colors as the 
sun went down. Nowhere was a house to be 
seen, nor a tree, nor a flower, nor sign of any 
living thing. From morning till night, nor hum 
of bee, nor song of bird, nor voice of man, nor 
any sound fell on Finola's ear. When the storm 
was in the air the great waves thundered on the 
shore beyond the mountains, and the wind 
shouted in the glens ; but when it sped across the 
moor it lost its voice, and passed as silently as 
the dead. At first the silence frightened Finola, 
but she got used to it after a time, and often 
broke it by talking to herself and singing. 

The only other person beside the old woman 
Finola ever saw was a dumb dwarf who, mounted 
on a broken-down horse, came once a month to 



PRINCESS AND DWARF 151 

the hut, bringing with him a sack of corn for the 
okl woman and Finola. Although he couldn't 
speak to her, Finola was always glad to see the 
dwarf and his old horse, and she used to give 
them cake made with her own white hands. As 
for the dwarf he would have died for the little 
princess, he was so much in love with her, and 
often and often his heart was heavy and sad as 
he thought of her pining away in the lonely 
moor. 

It chanced that he came one day, and she did 
not, as usual, come out to greet him. He made 
signs to the old woman, but she took up a stick 
and struck him, and beat his horse and drove him 
away ; but as he was leaving he caught a glimijse 
of Finola at the door of the hut, and saw that she 
was crying. This sight made him so very miser- 
able that he could think of nothing else but her 
sad face that he had always seen so bright, and 
he allowed the old horse to go on without 
minding where he was going. Suddenl}^ he 
heard a voice saying :^ " It is time for you to 
come." 

The dwarf looked, and right before him, at the 
foot of a green hill, was a little man not half as 



152 FAIRY TALES 

big as himself, dressed in a green jacket with 
brass buttons, and a red cap and tassel. 

" It is time for you to come," he said the sec- 
ond time ; " but you are ^Yelcome, anyhow. Get 
off your horse and come in with me, that I may 
touch your lips with the wand of speech, that we 
may have a talk together." 

The dwarf got off his horse and followed the 
little man through a hole in the side of a green 
hill. The hole was so small that he had to go on 
his hands and knees to pass through it, and when 
he was able to stand he was only the same height 
as the little fairyman. After walking three or 
four steps they were in a splendid room, as 
bright as day. Diamonds sparkled in the roof 
as stars sparkle in the sky when the night is 
without a cloud. The roof rested on golden pil- 
lars, and between the pillars were silver lamps, 
but their light was dimmed by that of the dia- 
monds. In the middle of the room was a table, 
on which were two golden plates and two 
silver knives and forks, and a brass bell as 
big as a hazelnut, and beside the table were 
two little chairs covered with blue silk and 
satin. 



PRINCESS AND DWARF 153 

" Take a chair," said the fairy, " and I will 
ring for the wand of speech." 

The dwarf sat down, and the fairyman rang 
the little brass bell, and in came a little weeny 
dwarf no bigger than your hand. 

" Bring me the wand of speech," said the 
fairy, and the weeny dwarf bowed three times 
and walked out backwards, and in a minute he 
returned, carrying a little black wand with a 
red berry at the top of it, and, giving it to the 
fairy, he bowed three times and walked out back- 
Avards as he had done before. 

The little man waved the rod three times over 
the dwarf, and struck him once on the right 
shoulder and once on the left shoulder, and then 
touched his lips with the red berry, and said: 
"Speak!" 

The dwarf spoke, and he was so rejoiced at 
hearing the sound of his own voice that he 
danced about the room. 

" Who are you at all, at all? " said he to the 
fairy. 

"Who is yourself?" said the fairy. "But 
come, before we have any talk let us have some- 
thing to eat, for I am sure you are hungry." 



154 FAIRY TALES 

Then they sat down to table, and the fairy rang 
the little brass bell twice, and the weeny dwarf 
brought in two boiled snails in their shells, and 
when they had eaten the snails he brought in a 
dormouse, and when they had eaten the dor- 
mouse he brought in two wrens, and when they 
had eaten the wrens he brought in two nuts full 
of wine, and they became very merry, and the 
fairyman sang " Cooleen dhas," and the dwarf 
sang " The little blackbird of the glen." 

" Did you ever hear the ' Foggy Dew '? " said 
the fairy. 

" No," said the dwarf. 

" Well, then, I'll give it to you ; but we must 
have some more wine." 

And the wine was brought, and he sang the 
" Foggy Dew," and the dwarf said it was the 
sweetest song he had ever heard, and that the 
fairyman 's voice would coax the birds off the 
bushes. 

" You asked me who I am? " said the fairy. 

" I did," said the dwarf. 

" And I asked you who is yourself? " 

" You did," said the dwarf. 

" And who are you, then? " 



PRINCESS AND DWARF 155 

" Well, to tell the truth, I don't know," said 
the dwarf, and he blushed like a rose. 

" Well, tell me what you know about your- 
self." 

" I remember nothing at all," said the dwarf, 
^' before the day I found myself going along with 
a crowd of all sorts of people to the great fair of 
the Liffey. We had to pass by the king's palace 
on our way, and as we were passing the king sent 
for a band of jugglers to come and show their 
tricks before him. I followed the jugglers to 
look on, and when the play was over the king 
called me to him, and asked me who I was and 
where I came from. I was dumb then, and 
couldn't answer; but even if I could speak I 
could not tell him what he wanted to know, for 
I remembered nothing of myself before that day. 
Then the king asked the jugglers, but they knew 
nothing about me, and no one knew anything, 
and then the king said he would take me into his 
service; and the only work I have to do is to go 
once a month with a bag of corn to the hut in the 
lonely moor." 

" And there you fell in loi^e with the little 
princess," said the fairy, winking at the dwarf. 



156 FAIRY TALES 

The poor dwarf blushed twice as much as he 
had done before. 

'^ You need not blush," said the fairy; " it is a 
good man's case. And now tell me, truly, do you 
love the princess, and what would you give to 
free her from the spell of enchantment that is 
over her? " 

" I would give my life," said the dwarf. 

" Well, then, listen to me," said the fairy. 
" The Princess Finola was banished to the lonely 
moor by the king, your master. He killed her 
father, who was the rightful king, and would 
have killed Finola, only he was told by an old 
sorceress that if he killed her he would die him- 
self on the same day, and she advised him to 
banish her to the lonely moor, and she said she 
would fling a spell of enchantment over it, and 
that until the spell was broken Finola could not 
leave the moor. And the sorceress also prom- 
ised that she would send an old woman to watch 
over the princess by night and by day, so that no 
harm should come to her; but she told the king 
that he himself should select a messenger to take 
food to the hut, and that he should look out for 
someone who had never seen or heard of the 



PRINCESS AND DWARF 157 

princess, and whom lie could trust never to tell 
anyone anything about her; and that is the rea- 
son he selected you/' 

" Since you know so much," said the dwarf, 
" can you tell me who I am, and where I came 
from? " 

" You will know that time enough," said the 
fairy. " I have given you back your speech. It 
will depend solely on yourself whether you will 
get back your memory of who and what you were 
before the day you entered the king's service. 
But are you really willing to try and break the 
spell of enchantment and free the princess? " 

" I am," said the dwarf. 

" WhateA^er it will cost you? " 

" Yes, if it cost me my life," said the dwarf ; 
" but tell me, how can the spell be broken? " 

'' Oh, it is easy enough to break the spell if you 
have the weapons," said the fairy. 

" And what are they, and where are they? " 
said the dwarf. 

" The spear of the shining haft and the dark 
blue blade and the silver shield," said the fairy. 
" They are on the farther bank of the Mystic 
Lake in the Island of the Western Seas. They 



158 FAIRY TALES 

are there for the man who is bold enough to seek 
them. If you are the man who will bring them 
back to the lonely moor you will only have to 
strike the shield three times with the haft, and 
three times with the blade of the spear, and the 
silence of the moor will be broken for ever, the 
spell of enchantment will be removed, and the 
princess will be free." 

" I will set out at once," said the dwarf, jump- 
ing from his chair. 

"And whatever it cost you," said the fairy, 
" will you pay the price? " 

" I will," said the dwarf. 

" Well, then, mount your horse, give him his 
head, and he will take you to the shore opposite 
the Island of the Mystic Lake. You must cross 
to the island on his back, and make your way 
through the water-steeds that swim around the 
island night and day to guard it ; but woe betide 
you if you attempt to cross without paying the 
price, for if you do the angry water-steeds will 
rend you and your horse to pieces. And when 
you come to the Mystic Lake you must wait until 
the waters are as red as wine, and then swim 
your horse across it, and on the farther side you 



PRINCESS AND DWAEF 159 

will find the spear and shield; but woe betide 
you if you attempt to cross the lake before you 
pay the price, for if you do, the black Cormorants 
of the Western Seas will pick the flesh from your 
bones." 

" What is the price? " said the dwarf. 

" You will know that time enough," said the 
fairy ; " but now go, and good luck go with you." 

The dwarf thanked the fairy, and said good-by. 
He then threw the reins on his horse's neck, and 
started up the hill, that seemed to grow bigger 
and bigger as he ascended, and the dwarf soon 
found that what he took for a hill was a great 
mountain. After traveling all the day, toiling 
up by steep crags and heathery passes, he reached 
the top as the sun was setting in the ocean, and 
he saw far below him out in the waters the island 
of the Mystic Lake. 

He began his descent to the shore, but long 
before he reached it the sun had set, and dark- 
ness, unpierced by a single star, dropped upon 
the sea. The old horse, worn out by his long and 
painful journey, sank beneath him, and the 
dwarf was so tired that he rolled off his back 
and fell asleep by his side. 



160 FAIRY TALES 

He awoke at the breaking of tlie morning, and 
saw that he was almost at the water's edge. He 
looked out to sea, and saw the island, but no- 
where could he see the water-steeds, and he be- [J 
gan to fear he must have taken a wrong course in 
the night, and that the island before him was not 
the one he was in search of. But even while 
he was so thinking he heard fierce and angry 
snortings, and, coming swiftly from the island 
to the shore, he saw the swimming and prancing 
steeds. Sometimes their heads and manes only 
were visible, and sometimes, rearing, they rose 
half out of the water, and, striking it with their 
hoofs, churned it into foam, and tossed the white 
spray to the skies. As they approached nearer 
and nearer their snortings became more terrible, 
and their nostrils shot forth clouds of vapor. 
The dwarf trembled at the sight and sound, and 
his old horse, quivering in every limb, moaned 
piteously, as if in pain. On came the steeds^ 
until they almost touched the shore, then rear- 
ing, they seemed about to spring on to it. The 
frightened dwarf turned his head to fly, and as 
he did so he heard the twang of a golden harp, 
and right before him who should he see but the 



PKINCESS AND DWARF 161 

little man of the hills, holding a harp in one 
hand and striking the strings with the other. 

" Are you ready to pay the price? " said he, 
nodding gayly to the dwarf. 

As he asked the question, the listening water- 
steeds snorted more furiously than ever. 

" Are you ready to pay the price? " said the 
little man a second time. 

A shower of spray, tossed on shore by the 
angry steeds, drenched the dwarf to the skin, 
and sent a cold shiver to his bones, and he was 
so terrified that he could not answer. 

" For the third and last time, are you ready to 
pay the price? " asked the fairy, as he flung the 
harp behind him and turned to depart. 

When the dwarf saw him going he thought of 
the little princess in the lonely moor, and his 
courage came back, and he answered bravely : 

" Yes, I am ready." 

The water-steeds, hearing his answer, and 
snorting with rage, struck the shore with their 
pounding hoofs. 

" Back to your waves ! " cried the little harper; 
and as he ran his fingers across his lyre, the 
frightened steeds drew back into the waters. 



162 FAIRY TALES 

" What is the price? " asked the dwarf. 

"Your right eye," said the fairy; and before 
the dwarf could say a word, the fairy scooped out 
the eye with his finger, and put it into his pocket. 

The dwarf suffered most terrible agony ; but he 
resolved to bear it for the sake of the little 
princess. Then the fairy sat down on a rock at 
the edge of the sea, and, after striking a few 
notes, he began to play the " Strains of Slum- 
ber." 

The sound crept along the waters, and the 
steeds, so ferocious a moment before, became per- 
fectly still. They had no longer any motion of 
their own, and they floated on the top of the tide 
like foam before a breeze. 

" Now," said the fairy, as he led the dwarf's 
horse to the edge of the tide. 

The dwarf urged the horse into the water, and 
once out of his depth, the old horse struck out 
boldly for the island. The sleeping water-steeds 
drifted helplessly against him, and in a short 
time he reached the island safely, and he neighed 
joyously as his hoofs touched solid ground. 

The dwarf rode on and on, until he came to a 
bridle-path, and following this, it led him up 



PEINCESS AND DWARF 163 

throngli winding lanes, bordered with golden 
furze that filled the air with fragrance, and 
brought him to the summit of the green hills that 
girdled and looked down on the Mystic Lake. 
Here the horse stopped of his own accord, and 
the dwarf's heart beat quickly as his eye rested 
on the lake, that, clipped round by the ring of 
hills, seemed in the breezeless and sunlit air — 

"As still as death. 
And as bright as life can be." 

After gazing at it for a long time, he dis- 
mounted, and lay at his ease in the pleasant 
grass. Hour after hour passed, but no change 
came over the face of the waters, and when 
the night fell sleep closed the eyelids of the 
dwarf. 

The song of the lark awoke him in the early 
morning, and, starting up, he looked at the lake, 
but its waters were as bright as they had been 
tlie day before. 

Towards midday he beheld what he thought 
was a black cloud sailing across the sky from 
east to west. It seemed to grow larger as it 
came nearer and nearer, and when it was high 



164 FAIRY TALES 

above the lake he saw it was a huge bird, the 
shadow of whose outstretched wings darkened 
the waters of the lake; and the dwarf knew it 
was one of the Cormorants of the Western Seas. 
As it descended slowly, he saw that it held in one 
of its claws a branch of a tree larger than a 
full-grown oak, and laden with clusters of ripe 
red berries. It alighted at some distance from 
the dwarf, and, after resting for a time, it began 
to eat the berries and to throw the stones into 
the lake, and wherever a stone fell a bright red 
stain appeared in the water. As he looked more 
closely at the bird the dwarf saw that it had all 
the signs of old age, and he could not help won- 
dering how it was able to carry such a heavy 
tree. 

Later in the day, two other birds, as large as 
the first, but younger, came up from the west and 
settled down beside him. They also ate the ber- 
ries, and throwing the stones into the lake it was 
soon as red as wine. 

When they had eaten all the berries, the young 
birds began to pick the decayed feathers off the 
old bird and to smooth his plumage. As soon as 
they had completed their task, he rose slowly 



PRINCESS AND DWARF 165 

from the hill and sailed out over the lake, and 
dropping down on the waters, dived beneath 
them. In a moment he came to the surface, and 
shot up into the air with a joyous cry, and flew 
off to the west in all the vigor of renewed youth, 
followed by the other birds. 

When they had gone so far that they were like 
specks in the sky, the dwarf mounted his horse 
and descended towards the lake. 

He was almost at the margin, and in another 
minute would have plunged in, when he heard a 
fierce screaming in the air, and before he had 
time to look up, the three birds were hovering 
over the lake. 

The dwarf drew back frightened. 

The birds wheeled over his head, and then, 
swooping down, they flew close to the water, 
covering it with their wings, and uttering harsh 
cries. 

Then, rising to a great height, they folded their 
wings and dropped headlong, like three rocks, on 
the lake, crashing its surface, and scattering a 
wine-red shower upon the hills. ^" 

Then the dwarf remembered what the fairy 
told him, that if he attempted to swim the lake, 



166 FAIKY TALES 

without paying the price, the three Cormorants 
of the Western Seas would pick the flesh off his 
bones. He knew not what to do, and was about 
to turn away, w hen he heard once more the twang 
of the golden harp, and the little fairy of the hills 
stood before him. 

" Faint heart never won fair lady," said the 
little harper. " Are you ready to pay the price? 
The spear and shield are on the opposite bank, 
and the Princess Finola is crying this moment 
in the lonely moor.-' 

At the mention of Finola's name the dwarf's 
heart grew strong. 

" Yes," he said ; " I am ready — win or die. 
What is the price? " 

" Your left eye," said the fairy. And as soon 
as said he scooped out the eye, and put it in his 
pocket. 

The poor blind dwarf almost fainted with 
pain. 

" It's your last trial," said the fairy, " and now 
do what I tell you. Twist your horse's mane 
round your right hand, and I will lead him to 
the water. Plunge in, and fear not. I gave you 
back your speech. When you reach the opposite 



PEINCESS AND DWARF 167 

bank you will get back your memory, and you 
will know who and whiit you are." 

Then the fairy led the horse to the margin of 
the lake. 

" In with you now, and good luck go with 
you," said the fairy. 

The dwarf urged the horse. He plunged into 
the lake, and went down and down until his feet 
struck the bottom. Then he began to ascend, 
and as he came near the surface of the water the 
dwarf thought he saw a glimmering light, and 
when he rose above the water he saw the bright 
sun shining and the green hills before him, and 
he shouted with joy at finding his sight restored. 

But he saw more. Instead of the old horse he 
had ridden into the lake he was bestride a noble 
steed, and as the steed swam to the bank the 
dwarf felt a change coming over himself, and an 
unknown vigor in his limbs. 

When the steed touched the shore he galloped 
up the hillside, and on the top of the hill was a 
silver shield, bright as the sun, resting against 
a spear standing upright in the ground. 

The dwarf jumped off, and, running towards 
the shield, he saw himself as in a looking-glass. 



168 FAIRY TALES 

He was no longer a dwarf, but a gallant 
knight. At that moment his memory came back 
to him, and he knew he was Conal, one of the 
Knights of the Red Branch, and he remembered 
now that the spell of dumbness and deformity 
had been cast upon him by the Witch of the Pal- 
ace of the Quicken Trees. 

Slinging his shield upon his left arm, he 
plucked the spear from the ground and leaped on 
to his horse. With a light heart he swam back 
over the lake, and nowhere could he see the black 
Cormorants of the Western Seas, but three w^hite 
swans floating abreast followed him to the bank. 
When he reached the bank he galloped down to 
the sea, and crossed to the shore. 

Then he flung the reins upon his horse's neck, 
and swifter than the wind the gallant horse 
swept on and on, and it was not long until he was 
bounding over the enchanted moor. Wherever 
his hoofs struck the ground, grass and flowers 
sprang up, and great trees with leafy branches 
rose on every side. 

At last the knight reached the little hut. 
Three times he struck the shield with the haft 
and three times with the blade of his spear. At 



I 



r^ 







^-/ 



'Standing before him was the little princess" Page 169 



PRINCESS AND DWARF 169 

the last blow the hut disappeared, and standing 
before him was the little princess. 

The knight took her in his arms and kissed 
her ; then he lifted her on to the horse, and, leap- 
ing up before her, he turned towards the north, 
to the palace of the Red Branch Knights, and as 
they rode on beneath the leafy trees from every 
tree the birds sang out, for the spell of silence 
over the lonely moor was broken for ever. 



NOTES 
I 

Lihan the Mermaid 

LiBAN was the daughter of Ecca, son of Mario, 
King of Mimster. Ecca, having conquered the lord- 
ship of the half of Ulster, settled down with his peo- 
ple in the plain of the Gray Copse, which is now cov- 
ered by the waters of Lough Necca, now Lough 
Neagh. A magic well had sprung up in the plain, 
and not being properl}^ looked after by the woman 
in charge of it, its waters burst forth over the plain, 
drowning Ecca and nearly all his family. Liban, 
although swept away like the others, was not 
drowned. She lived for a whole year, with her lap- 
dog, in a chamber beneath the lake, and God pro- 
tected her from the water. At the end of that time 
she was weary, and when she saw the speckled 
salmon swimming and playing all round her, she 
prayed to be changed into a salmon that she might 
swim with the others through the green, salt sea. 
Her prayer was granted; she took the shape of a 

170 



NOTES 171 

salmon, except her face and breast, which did not 
change. And her lap-dog was changed into an otter, 
and attended her afterwards whithersoever she went 
as long as she lived in the sea. 

It is nearly eight hnndred years ago since the 
story was transcribed from some old authority into 
the " Book of the Dun Cow," the oldest manuscript 
of Gaelic literature we possess. — Joyce's " Old 
Celtic Romances," p. 97. 



II 

The House in the Lake 

In the Irish annals lake dwellings, which were 
formerly common in Ireland, are called crannogs, 
from crann, a tree, either because of the timber 
framework of which the island w^as formed or of 
the wooden huts erected thereon. 

Some crannogs appear to have been veritable 
islands, the only means of communication with the 
land being canoes. Remains of these have been fre- 
quently found near the dwelling, in some instances 
alongside the. landing stage, as if sunk at their 
moorings. 

" Favorite sites for crannogs were marshes, small 



172 FAIRY TALES 

loughs surrounded by woods and large sheets of 
water. As proYiding good fishing grounds the en- 
trance to or exit of a stream from a lake was eagerly 
selected." — " Lake Dwellings of Ireland," Col. Wood 
Martin, M.R.I.A. 



Ill 

Brian's Water-dress 

Brian, Ur, and TJrcar, the three sons of Turenn, 
were Dedanaan chiefs. They slew Kian, the father 
of Luga of the Long Arms, who was grandson of 
Balor of the Evil Eye. Luga imposed an extraor- 
dinary eric fine on the sons of Turenn, part of which 
was " the cooking-spit of the women of Fincara." 
For a quarter of a year Brian and his brothers sailed 
hither and thither over the wide ocean, landing on 
many shores, seeking tidings of the Island of Fin- 
cara. At last they met a very old man, who told 
them that the island lay deep down in the waters, 
having been sunk beneath the waves by a spell in 
times long past. 

Then Brian put on his water-dress, with his 
helmet of transparent crystal on his head, telling 
his brothers to wait his return. He leaped over the 



NOTES 173 

side of the ship, and sank at once out of sight. He 
walked about for a fortnight down in the green salt 
sea, seeking for the Island of Fincara, and at last 
he found it. 

His brothers waited for him in the same spot the 
whole time, and when he came not they began to 
fear he would return no more. At last they were 
about to leave the place, when they saw the glitter 
of his crystal helmet deep down in the water, and 
immediately after he came to the surface with the 
cooking-spit in his hand. — " Old Celtic Romances " 
(Joyce), p. 87. 



IV 

Prince Cuglas 

In the list of the historic tales mentioned in the 
Book of Leinster, and which is given in O'Curry's 
appendix to his "■ Lectures on the MSS. Materials of 
Ancient Irish History," " The Cave of the Road of 
Cuglas " finds place. O'Curry has the following 
note : — 

" Cuglas was the son of Donn Desa, King of 
Leinster, and master of the hounds to the monarch 
Conaire Mor. Having one day followed the chase 



174 FAIRY TALES 

from Tara to this road, the chase siiddenh' disap- 
peared in a cave, into which he followed, and was 
never seen after. Hence the cave was called Uaimh 
Bealach Conglais, or the cave of the road of Cuglas 
(now Baltinglass, in the Connty of Wicklow). It 
is about this cave, nevertheless, that so many of onr 
pretended Irish antiquarians have written so much 
nonsense in connection with some imaginary pagan 
worship to which they gravely assure the world, 
on et3auological authorit}', the spot was devoted. 
The authority for the legend of Cuglas is the Din- 
uoemi Chus on the place Bealach Cowjlais (Book 
of Lecain). The full tale has not come down to 
us." 



The Herald 

" Here comes a single champion towards us, O 
Cuchiilain,'' said Laegh (Cuchulain's charioteer). 
"What sort of a champion is he?" said Cuchulain. 
" A brown-haired, broad-faced, beautiful youth ; a 
splendid brown cloak on him ; a bright bronze spear- 
like brooch fastening his cloak. A full and well- 
fitting shirt to his skin. Two firm shoes between 
his two feet and the ground. A hand-staff of white 



NOTES 175 

hazel in one hand of his ; a single-edged sword with 
a sea-horse hilt in his other hand." " Good, my 
lad," said Cuchulain; " these are the tokens of a 
herald." — Description of the herald MacRoath in 
the story of The Tain ho Chuailgne. — O'Curry's 
" Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish," Vol. 
II., p. 301. 



VI 

Golden Bells 

In O'Curry's " Lectures on the Manners and Cus- 
toms of the Ancient Irish " are several dazzling de- 
scriptions of cavalcades taken from the old tales. 
Silver and golden bells are frequently mentioned as 
part of the horse furniture. 



VII 

The Wild People of the Glen 

" And then he put on his helmet of battle and of 
combat and of fighting, from every recess and from 
every angle of which issued the shout as it were of 



176 FAIRY TALES 

an hundred warriors; because it was alike that 
woman of the valley (de lananaig), and hobgoblins 
(bacaiiaig), and wild people of the glen {geinti 
glindi), and demons of the air (demna acoir), 
shouted in front of it, and in rear of it, and over it, 
and around it, wherever he went, at the spurting of 
blood, and of heroes upon it." 

Description of Cuchulain's helmet in the story of 
The Tain bo Chwailgne. — O'Curry's " Manners and 
Customs of the Ancient Irish," Vol. II., p. 301. 



VIII 

Tlie Fair of Tar a 

" The great fairs anciently held in Ireland were 
not like their modern representatives, mere markets, 
but were assemblies of the people to celebrate funeral 
games, and other religious rites ; during pagan times 
to hold parliaments, promulgate laws, listen to the 
recitation of tales and poems, engage in or witness 
contests in feats of arms, horse-racing, and other 
popular games. They were analogous in many ways 
to the Olympian and other celebrated games of an- 
cient Greece. 

" These assemblies were regulated by a strict by- 



NOTES 177 

law, a breach of which was punishable by death. 
Women were especially protected, a certain place 
being set apart for their exclusive use, as a place 
was set apart at one side of the lists of mediaeval 
tournaments for the Queen of Beauty and the other 
ladies. 

" At the opening of the assembly there was always 
a solemn proclamation of peace, and the king who 
held the fair awarded prizes to the most successful 
poets, musicians, and professors and masters of 
every art." — See Dr. Sullivan's " Introduction to 
O'Curry's Lectures." 



IX 

The Contest of the Bards 

" The three musical feats of the Daghda, a cele- 
brated Dedanann chief and Druid, were the Suan- 
traighe, which from its deep murmuring caused 
sleep. The Goltraighe, which from its meltive 
plaintiveness caused weeping, and the Goltraighe, 
which from its merriment caused laughter. 

" Bose, the great Norse harper, could give on his 
harp the Gyarslager, or stroke of the sea gods, which 
produced mermaids' music." — O'Curry's Lectures. 



178 FAIRY TALES 



Tlie Fairy Tree of Dooros 

The forest of Dooros was in the district of Hy 
Fiera of the Moy (now the barony of Tireragh, in 
Sligo) . 

On a certain occasion the Dedanns, returning 
from a hurling match with the Feni, passed through 
the forest, carrying with them for food during the 
journey crimson nuts, and arbutus apijles, and 
scarlet quicken-berries, which they had brought from 
the Land of Promise. One of the quicken-berries 
dropped on the earth, and the Dedanns passed on 
not heeding. 

From this berry a great quicken-tree sprang up, 
which had the virtues of the quicken-trees that grow 
in fairyland. Its berries had the taste of honey, 
and those who ate of them felt a cheerful glow, as if 
they had drunk of wine or old mead, and if a man 
were even a hundred years old he returned to the 
age of thirty as soon as he had eaten three of them. 

The Dedanns having heard of this tree, and not 
wishing that anyone should eat of the berries but 
themselves, sent a giant of their own people to guard 
it, namely, Sharvan the Surly of Lochlann. — "The 



KOTES 179 

Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grania," " Old Celtic Eo- 
mances," p. 313 (Joyce). 



XI 

The Palace of the Little Cat 

The description of the rows of jewels ranged 
round the wall of the palace of the Little Cat is 
taken from "The Voyage of Maildun." — See Note 
XII. 



XII 

The Birds of the Mystic Lake 

The incident of the birds coming to the mystic 
lake is taken from "The Voyage of Maildun," a 
translation of which is given in Joyce's " Old Celtic 
Romances." The operations of the birds were wit- 
nessed by Maildun and his companions, who, in the 
course of their wanderings, had arrived at the Isle 
of the Mystic Lake. One of Maildun's companions, 
Diuran, on seeing the wonder, said to the others: 
"Let us bathe in the lake, and we shall obtain a 
renewal of our youth like the birds." 



180 FAIEY TALES 

But they said : " Not so, for the bird has left the 
poison of his old age and decay in the water." 

Diuran, however, plunged in, and swam about for 
some time ; after which he took a little of the water 
and mixed it in his mouth, and in the end he swal- 
lowed a small quantity. He then came out per- 
fectly sound and whole, and remained so ever after 
as long as he lived. But none of the others ven- 
tured in. 

The return of the birds in the character of the 
cormorants of the western seas and guardians of the 
lake does not occur in the old tale. The oldest copy 
of the voyage is in the " Book of the Dun Cow " 
(about the year 1100). O'Curry says the voyage 
was undertaken about the year 700. It was made 
by Maildun in search of pirates who had slain his 
father. The story is full of fancy. 



y 



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